Meet Citybirds, a Swiss-Lithuanian startup that recently moved its main office from Geneva to Vilnius where manufacturing and R&D should also be transferred soon. Ignas Survila, Citybirds’ CEO, tells the story behind the kick scooter company and lets our readers know what is on their future agenda.

So what is Citybirds all about? How did it all start?

Ignas: We are a company that designs, develops and sells eco-mobility. But today, we are mostly focusing on kick scooters.

A few years ago, I introduced my kick scooter concept at Kickstarter. I was rather looking for manufacturers and an experienced investor as opposed to random funding. Eventually I found a Swiss partner that helped my to take this idea further.

So we started developing four different kick scooters – four different Citybirds family members for different target audiences. And recently we opened an office in Vilnius where we are planning to transfer manufacturing and R&D departments too.

Please introduce your birds!

Ignas: Citybirds consists of four different birds – different kick scooters. Pigeon, Raven, Colibri and Eagle.

Pigeon was the very first product which is already in the mass production stage and in early 2017 it will finally reach the markets. Its main philosophy is to reject all unnecessary details and to leave just the essence. For this reason, it’s absolutely minimalistic. This design has already been awarded in some global design competitions. Pigeon may be folded by one time by pushing it with a foot. After folding it is absolutely flat, and so it perfectly fits to a car trunk. Pigeon also perfectly suits to a shoulder so it is very easy to carry as it weighs just 3.4 kg.

Then we have Colibri, a wooden and super sustainable kick scooter for kids.

Also, Eagle is our innovative and exclusive electric kick scooter. The smartphone would be the brain of Eagle and a mobile app allows one to see the highest pollution flows in the cities – it then suggests ways to bypass it. A handle has sensors installed, it starts vibrating when another vehicle is approaching from behind, thus warning the user of possible danger.

Finally, we are super excited to introduce you to Raven, the lightest scooter on a market! The main idea of Raven scooter was to try changing an elementary behavior of an item as such and to make it more classy, more subtle and more user-friendly. Therefore Raven folds with a single movement of a foot. Its users just need to press the pedal with a foot. We have chosen carbon fiber material for its luxury feel, stability and lightness. Moreover, we designed an orange gap in the middle of horizontal frame to enable folding of the whole scooter to an absolute flat-pack stick which does not take much space. We expect Raven to be available in August 2017. You can simply preorder it today at INDIEGOGO

What have been the main challenges while taking your ideas to the market?

Ignas: I have learnt a lot new things from this amazing process, and now I know that today's design is not only about materials you choose, shapes or features you create. It is rather a super complex process that makes the designer to become a part of marketing, physics, engineering, business, political or social movement, sustainability, advertising, environment, etc.

I am truly grateful and happy to be a part of this amazing ecosystem and to create the better routine for all the people around the world. Of course, sometimes there are a lot of different issues, in manufacturing, product development and legal fields, for instance. Luckily, I have strong partners that help.

Who are your partners, team members and investors?

Ignas: Together with my business partner Michel Barro, we set up a company in Geneva, Switzerland some two years ago. Michel Barro is the primary investor in the company.

Our team consists of different specialists all around the globe. We are 4 full-timers – two in Lithuania and two in Switzerland. However, we are outsourcing a lot of different services from different companies and partners. Starting with engineers, lawyers, accountant office, advertising agencies, PR companies, business advisors, manufacturers etc. I think this model helps us to keep the flexibility of the company and remain flexible in this stormy beginning of a startup!

What's next then?

Ignas: We are finishing the manufacturing of two new products that will hit the markets in the beginning of 2017. So let's cross the fingers that Lithuanian Birds would conquer Asia!