Beryl
Entrepreneur FirstLondon, GB · 1 known investors
Beryl operates a nationwide UK bike-share scheme offering shared bikes, e-bikes, e-scooters, and cargo bikes through an app with online payment. It partners with towns, cities, and transport authorities to run micromobility programs.
Also known as Beryl Bikes · Blaze · SMIDSY Limited · Starling Bank Bikes
Founders & leadership
Investors · 1
Company profile
researched Aug 2026Beryl is the trading name of SMIDSY Limited, a British company that produces bicycle-sharing systems and bicycle lights. The company runs app-based micromobility schemes in towns, cities and counties across the UK, offering pedal bikes, e-bikes, e-scooters and e-cargo bikes that are unlocked via a free iOS and Android app and paid for online. Riders locate vehicles in the app, unlock them by tapping an unlock pad, and end trips by parking in designated 'Beryl bays'. Pricing options range from one-off trips to plans for regular journeys, and vehicles are available to users aged 16 or older, with a full or provisional driving licence required to ride e-scooters.
Alongside the sharing schemes, Beryl makes bicycle lights. Its founder developed the Laserlight, which projects a green bicycle image onto the road roughly six metres ahead of the bike to make riders visible around corners and in blind spots; the light is used as part of London's Santander Cycles hire scheme. Other products include the Pixel, a small light switchable between red and white for front or rear use, and the Laserlight Core, a lighter, lower-cost version of the Laserlight using a plastic rather than aluminium body.
The company describes itself as the UK's first B Corp certified bike share scheme and micromobility brand, and states that its app, bikes and bays are designed in the UK by an in-house team covering product and software design as well as urban design and planning.
Founding story
Founder Emily Brooke switched from studying physics at Oxford to product design at Brighton and took up cycling, training for four months before riding roughly 1,000 miles from Cornwall to Scotland. For her final-year university project she chose the theme of urban cycling and spent six to eight months working with a driving psychologist analysing road accident data, finding that 79% of bikes involved in accidents were travelling straight ahead when another road user turned into them. This led to the idea of projecting a laser image of a bicycle onto the road ahead to alert drivers in blind spots, which became the Laserlight, launched on Kickstarter in 2013.
Business model
Beryl operates shared micromobility schemes under partnership contracts with local councils, transport authorities, businesses, universities and charities, while also earning revenue from riders who pay for hire via the app. It additionally sells bicycle lights, and has a distribution arrangement with Tokyo Bike for its bike lights. In Greater Manchester the scheme is sponsored and branded as Starling Bank Bikes.
Rider payments made through the app, with pricing options ranging from single one-off trips to plans for regular day-to-day journeys; partnership arrangements with public and private bodies; sponsorship (e.g. Starling Bank Bikes in Manchester); and sales of bicycle lights.
Traction
Company site fleet listings across 17 locations total roughly 1,930 pedal bikes, 3,591 e-bikes, 1,300 e-scooters and 1,538 Beryl bays. The Laserlight is deployed as part of London's Santander Cycles scheme, and the Greater Manchester scheme is sponsored by Starling Bank. Watford Borough Council publicly cites rapid delivery of its scheme and early indications of modal shift.
Latest developments
Beryl has partnered with Tokyo Bike to distribute its bike lights through Tokyo Bike's store. A Dorset Echo report cited by Wikipedia notes a new e-bike hire scheme launching in August 2024, and a BBC report cited by Wikipedia notes Portsmouth was set for a bike rental scheme trial announced in July 2022.
▸Full profile — market position, technology, go-to-market, geography, history, risks & controversies
Market position
Beryl describes itself as a UK leader in micromobility schemes and the UK's leading bike share operator, and states it is the first B Corp certified micromobility brand and first B Corp bike share scheme. Wikipedia lists Beryl Bikes as a countrywide bicycle-sharing system in the United Kingdom. Its Laserlight is used on London's Santander Cycles fleet.
Stated differentiators include a fully integrated multi-vehicle fleet (pedal bikes, e-bikes, e-scooters and cargo bikes), UK-designed bikes, app and bays, patented Laserlight visibility technology, B Corp certification, a hybrid docked/free-floating parking model that keeps pavements clear, and data dashboards for partners.
Technology
Patented Laserlight technology projects a green bicycle image about six metres ahead of the bike for visibility around corners and in blind spots. Bikes and e-scooters use a tap-to-unlock pad rather than physical locks, with an integrated app for locating vehicles, unlocking and payment. Onboard telemetry feeds a partner-facing performance dashboard reporting total trips, average ride length and carbon saved. The fleet uses a hybrid parking model in which over 90% of vehicles are parked in fixed Beryl bays and a small share are free-floating and redistributed by staff.
Go-to-market
Beryl markets to two audiences: end riders, via a free iOS/Android app and street-level presence of bikes and bays, and scheme partners. Partner segments are explicitly split into towns and cities, businesses, charities and universities, each with a dedicated route to engagement. It uses reference customers (for example Watford Borough Council) and publishes an annual Rider Report and a performance dashboard with trip, ride-length and carbon-saving metrics to evidence scheme impact to partners.
Local councils, transport authorities, businesses, universities and charities commissioning shared micromobility schemes; and end users aged 16 and over travelling in UK towns and cities, including commuters and leisure riders. E-scooter users must hold a full or provisional driving licence.
Geography
United Kingdom, headquartered at The Frames, 1 Phipp Street, London. Schemes listed on the company site include Belfast; Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole; Bradford; Brighton and Hove; Canterbury; Cornwall; Dorchester, Weymouth and Portland; Greater Manchester; Guildford; Hereford; Hertsmere; Leeds; Norwich; Plymouth; Stevenage; Watford; and Worcester. Wikipedia additionally cites the Isle of Wight, Dorset, Portsmouth and the West Midlands.
History
The company was registered in November 2011 in Bath, United Kingdom, under the name SMIDSY Limited, an acronym for 'Sorry Mate I Didn't See You'. Its products were initially marketed under the brand 'Blaze'; after a legal challenge from an American bike light company also called Blaze, and roughly a year of work with two creative agencies, the brand was changed to 'Beryl', referencing British champion cyclist Beryl Burton and the green beryl gemstone. The first product, the Laserlight, launched on Kickstarter in 2013, with the Laserlight Core following in 2018. The company subsequently expanded from bike lights into operating dockless bike-share and e-scooter (kicksharing) schemes across the UK.
Risks & controversies
The company was forced to rebrand from 'Blaze' to 'Beryl' following a legal challenge from an American bike light company named Blaze, a process the founder described as taking almost a year. E-scooter access is restricted to riders holding a full or provisional driving licence, reflecting UK regulatory constraints. Revenue depends substantially on public-sector scheme contracts and sponsorship, which are periodically re-tendered.
Compiled by commissioned research from 8 cited public sources — announcements, filings, and press listed under research sources below.
Key figures
latest reportedCompany-reported or press-reported figures, each dated to when it was claimed — not independently audited.
Timeline · 9
launches, deals, and filingsBeryl states it is the UK's first B Corp bike share scheme and the first B Corp certified micromobility brand.
Beryl partnered with Tokyo Bike to distribute its bike lights through Tokyo Bike's store.
For sponsorship reasons, Beryl operates its Greater Manchester bike share scheme under the name Starling Bank Bikes, per TfGM Bee Active as cited by Wikipedia.
Dorset Echo reported on 15 August 2024 that a new e-bike hire scheme would launch the following week; Wikipedia cites this in relation to Beryl's Dorset operations.
BBC News reported that Portsmouth was set for a bike rental scheme trial; Wikipedia lists Portsmouth among Beryl's dockless cycle sharing locations.
Following a legal challenge from an American bike light company called Blaze, the company changed its consumer brand from Blaze to Beryl, referencing British cyclist Beryl Burton and the green beryl gemstone. Reported by Forbes on 22 May 2018.
A lighter, lower-cost version of the Laserlight using a plastic rather than aluminium main body, adding a day flash mode and a bracket removable in one movement.
Beryl's first product, the Laserlight bike light, was launched via a Kickstarter campaign in 2013.
The business was registered on 1 November 2011 in Bath, United Kingdom under the name SMIDSY Limited, an acronym for 'Sorry Mate I Didn't See You'. 'Beryl' is the trading name.
Dated company events from announcements, filings, and press; legal rows summarize public dockets and regulator releases.
▸Research sources · 8
primary sources listed
- Berylberyl.cc · web
8 public sources were cited for this profile; the first-party ones are listed here.
Frequently asked questions
- What does Beryl do?
- UK operator of app-based shared bike, e-bike, e-scooter and cargo bike schemes, and maker of Laserlight bike lights.
- Who founded Beryl?
- Beryl was founded by Emily Brooke.
- Who are Beryl's investors?
- Beryl's investors include Entrepreneur First.
- Where is Beryl headquartered?
- Beryl is headquartered in London, GB.