"Have you ever had the feeling that a distance is too far to walk but too close to get the bike or even the car out of the garage?"
The same question occured to Wim Ouboter on the way from his apartment in Zurich to his favourite sausage stand, the legendary Sternengrill. In search of a practical means of transport for the 1-kilometre-long microdistance, the Swiss entrepreneur invented the Micro Scooter. In his attempt to turn his vision of Micro Mobility into reality, there was only on problem: how do you bring such a product onto the market with little money and no experience in this industry?
Wim want to work together with the car manufacturer Smart and place a Micro Scooter in every boot. Unfortunately, the project failed because the delivery of the city car was delayed due to technical problems. However, his distinct spirit of innovation quickly led Wim to a new idea: the three-wheeled kickboard. It should be easier to ride than a skateboard, but still convey the same cruiser feeling.
After the initial stumbling blocks with Smart, Wim found a suitable distribution partner in the sports brand K2. Together, they brought the three-wheeled kickboard onto the market and celebrated huge sales success. In 1997, Wim founded his own company, Micro Mobility Systems AG, with the proceeds rom the kickboard sales. After that, his two-wheeled Micro Scooter also made the big breakthrough, with 80,000 of them sold daily, totalling more than 30 million in one year.
Just a year later, the business collapsed completely. The market was flooded with priated copies. More than 500 factories copied Wim's Micro Scooter. A ruthless price war began. Wim's strategy: innovation. He developed the Mini Micro, a colourful version of the kickboard for children. Further innovations followed, and today Micro offers over 50 mobility products for children, teenagers and adults that are successfully distributed in over 80 countries.
In 2013, Micro launched its first e-scooter, the emicro one. The compact and light electric scooter with motion control has won numerous awards. In 2015, Wim's sons, Oliver and Merlin, started the development of the electric cit car Microlino. More than 17,000 reservations have already been made world-wide. Production starts 2021.
