Wave
About
Wave is a Beirut-based e-mobility company founded in 2021 that offers monthly electric bicycle subscriptions for daily commuters in Lebanon. The company designs its bikes specifically for urban terrain, bundling each subscription with a helmet, theft insurance, and maintenance. Wave operates a community hub in Geitaoui powered entirely by solar energy and is expanding its fleet toward entry into regional markets including Istanbul.
Wave's profile
Mission
To make electric cycling a practical, affordable, and safe commuting option in dense urban cities across the MENA region.
Vision
To become the primary alternative to car commuting in MENA cities, reducing traffic, pollution, and the cost of daily mobility for residents.
How it began
1) Jan De Coo arrived in Lebanon from the Netherlands and found the absence of cycling culture striking. Beirut’s traffic, pollution, and lack of public transport pointed directly to a problem cycling could solve.
2) Joyce Hamze, coming from an entrepreneurship background, encountered Wave and saw in it exactly what she had been looking for: a venture with clear community and environmental impact built into its model.
3) Lebanon’s commuting crisis, where traffic accounts for nearly half of urban pollution and residents lose significant time daily to congestion, made the problem concrete and urgent enough to build a company around.
How it's going
1) The community has grown to 300 subscribers, a milestone the team treated as market validation, and Wave is recording 40% year-on-year user growth.
2) Demand has outpaced supply enough to create a waiting list, which prompted the current fundraising round to expand the fleet.
3) Wave is currently breaking even and has identified a clear threshold: reaching 510 bikes would move the company into profitability without further capital raises.
