Boosted (company)
Boosted was an American manufacturer of electric skateboards and electric scooters based in Mountain View, California.
History
2012–2016
Boosted was founded in mid-2012 with financial backing by StartX. The company was founded by Sanjay Dastoor, John Ulmen, and Matthew Tran, who delivered a TED talk on the subject in 2013.The company started a Kickstarter campaign promising a premium electric skateboard called the "Boosted Board" for a $100,000 goal. It was a massive success, and generated over $467,000 from backers.
In 2014, the original Boosted Board was renamed the Dual+, and two new models were announced: the Dual and the Single. The Dual and Single received new, upgraded software. The Dual+ also received the software following the announcement.
On May 19, 2016, the second generation Boosted Board was announced. It featured a swappable battery that could be upgraded to a future Extended Range Battery, water resistance, 80 mm Orangatang wheels, upgraded Bluetooth radio, accessory ports beneath the risers, and more modular design to better enable service and repair by both users and the manufacturer. However, the Single model was cancelled and store credits to reservation holders to upgrade to Dual and Dual+ models.
2017–2018
In February 2017, the second generation was re-released with additional upgrades to its battery and firmware. In November 2017, an expanded version of the Boosted mobile app was released, including expansion from just iOS to also include Android. In January 2018 the Extended Range Battery was released, which is able to be mounted on second generation boards, effectively doubling the range of skateboard. On April 17, 2018, Boosted announced its third generation of skateboards. It included two longboards, and for the first time, two shortboards. The company also expanded at this time from shipping in US and Canada to 34 countries, including the EU, Australia, and New Zealand. Time magazine named the Boosted Mini a Top 50 Invention of the Year. In December 2018, Boosted received over $60 million in new investment to continue its global expansion and development of additional products.2019
Boosted announced the new Boosted Rev on May 15, 2019.Boosted announced the new Boosted Beams and Boosted 105's on November 14, 2019.
2020
The Boosted Rev, being manufactured in China, was affected by the US-China tariff war, causing the company to owe its manufactures up to $100,000 during production.On March 4, 2020, Boosted announced that it has laid off a significant portion of its team and was actively seeking a buyer.
In April 2020, it was reported that Lime has acquired some of the remaining assets of Boosted, including five of the company's core patents. The remaining inventory of skateboards, scooters, and related parts was acquired by Boosted USA.