bp ventures has invested $6 million in all-electric ride-hailing business Freebee, a Miami-based company that provides free, on-demand transportation to local communities through their mobile app Ride Freebee. bp led the business’ $8-million Series A funding round, with support from Freebee’s current infrastructure capital partner, Tensile Mobility.

Freebee’s free-to-the-user trips are financed through local governments as part of municipalities’ public transport networks, and also by private entities such as corporate business parks, hotels and resorts, and university campuses. Freebee has established itself as a premier mobility platform in the state of Florida and seeks to address the many issues arising from increased use of personal vehicles in the US, such as traffic congestion and increased carbon emissions.

Freebee owns a fleet of more than 150 electric vehicles and employs more than 230 drivers on a full-time basis. This investment will help Freebee boost its technology development capacity and expand the team, helping to scale the business across the US. The service is currently available in more than 25 municipalities and campuses in Florida and Virginia, with Freebee targeting expansion into seven new cities in the two states before the end of 2022. The expansion is expected to help the business move more than 1 million passengers by the end of the year.

As well as leading the funding round, bp will also work with Freebee on scaling the business across the US and will explore opportunities to collaborate on the roll-out of EV charging infrastructure, progressing bp’s mobility growth engine.

bp ventures was set up more than 10 years ago to identify and invest in private, high growth, game-changing technology companies, accelerating innovation across the entire energy spectrum. Since then, bp has invested almost $1 billion in technology companies across more than 40 active investments with more than 250 co-investors.