Forest bikes founder: Don't compromise your founding principles

Caroline Seton is the co-founder of Forest, which operates an ebike sharing scheme. It was founded in 2019 and now has more than 15,000 ebikes in London.

Her secret is that start-up founders need to stay focused on their original mission, even when the context around them changes, like the political conversation, for example. "You have to be true to what it is that motivated you in the first place to get the business off the ground," says Seton.

Forest aims to stand out from rivals – like Lime, Santander Cycles and Voi – with its commitment to sustainability, by only using renewable energy across its supply chain, keeping carbon emissions low.

Forest riders travelled nearly 24 million kilometres across London in 2024, according to the company. It has a novel pricing scheme where users pay a small fee to unlock the bike, but the first 10 minutes each day are free. Users can earn extra riding time by watching adverts on its app.

"There's been times when we've been deploying thousands of bikes," explains Seton, "and we could have gone for diesel vans that would have been quicker, more affordable – but that's something we will never do."

"Right from the beginning, we've been a zero-emission operation and that means electric vans, which are charged with certified renewable energy."

The company raised £13m in Series B funding this year, which will help expand the business.

"You know, the language of politics might change, we may be swayed by election cycles,” says Seton, “but it is so important to stick to the purpose on which the business is founded and stay true to yourself because in the end, you can't be something to everybody."