By BLOOMBERG

SINGAPORE • Singapore’s sidewalks are about to get a lot more crowded.

Beam, co-founded by the former Asian chief for Chinese bike-sharing giant Ofo Inc, has raised US$6.4 million (RM26.63 million) from investors including Sequoia India to deploy its electric scooters around the island nation.

Beam just closed a seed funding round led by Sequoia India, Founders Fund, Zhen-Fund and Class 5 Global, it said in a statement. Its other backers include Arbor, Insignia, 500 Startups, Gobi and K2 Global.

The financing will help bankroll a fleet of e-scooters manufactured by Segway Ninebot, backed by Xiaomi Corp.

“We want to change the fundamental way that people move around Asian cities,” CEO Alan Jiang said in the statement. He previously led Ofo’s Asia Pacific operations and served as Uber’s country manager in Indonesia.

Beam plans to roll out its service in coming weeks before eventually taking the platform to Malaysia, Australia and South Korea. Its other backers include Pascal Capital, Maloekoe Ventures and Cherubic Ventures.