The E-Bike model that’s quietly taking over the streets of Europe

In this Business Insights Series interview, I sat down with Daniel Trohin, the 21-year-old founder of Renter, a startup shaking up the courier mobility space with a very specific offer: long-term e-bike rentals designed for food delivery couriers. Renter has grown into a serious presence on the streets of Bucharest with over 170 bikes (150 of them active in the capital) and bold expansion plans into new cities and even Budapest by the end of the year.

What makes this story remarkable is how it started: with high schoolers chasing an idea and turning it into a growing business. Daniel and his friends started Renter while still in high school in Chișinău, Moldova. 

Fueled by freelance gigs and a lot of hustle, they validated the business model by speaking directly to delivery couriers, iterated through pivots, and secured early investment from one of their teammate’s parents. That spark quickly turned into a scalable and in-demand solution for one of the most essential but often overlooked segments of the gig economy.

We covered a lot of ground in our discussion: from Daniel’s early approach to entrepreneurship, to the lessons learned in scaling operations, team-building, and raising funds in Romania’s startup ecosystem. Daniel didn’t hold back; we talked about customer research, angel investors, ERP headaches, and even the very human challenge of leading others with empathy.

This article highlights the ideas and takeaways that can help other founders, decision-makers, and business builders who are navigating similar growth challenges.

Let’s dive into the ideas that stood out.

Starting Early and Learning Fast

When you hear that someone launched a business during high school, it might sound like a tech fairytale. But Daniel’s story is rooted in experimentation, curiosity, and validation straight from the street level. Daniel and his team didn’t approach this like a typical school project. They immersed themselves in real-world conversations with couriers, tested assumptions quickly, and built momentum through raw experimentation and community feedback.

“We started with some colleagues back in school, with no idea what a startup even was.”

Back then, Daniel and his friends focused less on crafting a polished pitch deck and more on uncovering meaningful insights through trial, error, and feedback. They went through multiple pivots, exploring ideas that flopped, adapted based on what they learned, and eventually found their edge. They knew they had something when couriers at McDonald’s reacted strongly to a pitch, even before there were any real bikes.

“To validate the idea, we went directly to McDonald’s in Chișinău and asked couriers about their challenges. We pretended to have bikes, just to see if they would rent them. A lot of them said yes.”.

This was grassroots entrepreneurship: go where the users are, ask the right questions, and listen more than you talk. This approach aligns with lean validation methodologies that emphasize customer discovery over product development. Studies on early-stage validation show that startups conducting direct customer interviews are 30% more likely to develop products that achieve market fit.

While many of their peers focused on traditional education paths, Daniel built flexibility into his life by freelancing. Freelancing gave Daniel a financial cushion and flexibility. It allowed him to fund the business, avoid distractions, and double down on Renter when it mattered.

“We worked two to three hours per day freelancing, so we could buy time to focus on Renter.”

This story sets a compelling example for youth-led innovation across Eastern Europe. With the right mindset and a bit of smart hustle, it’s possible to build real solutions to real problems, before even graduating.

Building a Service That Works for Couriers

The e-bike rental model is much more than a collection of bikes for hire. It’s a tightly coordinated service operation that depends on consistent availability, fast maintenance response, and constant feedback from real users. Every piece of the experience matters: from how bikes are booked and delivered to how quickly a rider gets a replacement when something goes wrong. This is a high-usage, high-dependency model where trust and speed make or break the value.

“We now have 170 bikes, 150 in Bucharest. We offer rentals to both companies and individuals, starting with one-week minimums. Maintenance is included. No deposit required.”

Renter has intentionally crafted its service around rider needs and market insights. Renter’s pricing stands out as a more thoughtful, courier-friendly offer. The team built the operations so that couriers don’t need to worry about what happens when a tire blows or the brakes wear out from daily use.

“Other services offer low prices upfront, but charge later for damage and deposits. We don’t do that. Only if someone damages a bike intentionally, they pay the cost of that specific part.”

By embedding maintenance and transparency into their core offer, Renter stands out in a market that’s used to hidden fees and inconsistent service. Renter’s approach to pricing and service was designed with the courier’s daily reality in mind.

 Daniel and his team prioritized predictability and simplicity, aiming to reduce friction and give riders peace of mind. Daniel kept his focus on what mattered most: building long-term trust with a workforce that depends on reliability to make a living. Margins were part of the equation, but the deeper goal was to create lasting value for the couriers.

And let’s not ignore the bigger picture: platforms like Glovo and Bolt are under increasing pressure to reduce emissions. For these companies, partnering with services like Renter is a way to meet sustainability goals while improving delivery reliability. The added environmental benefit is real, and it positions Renter as part of the solution in reshaping urban mobility.

Market Insight: Room to Grow

Daniel and his team discovered early that the Bucharest market was under-served. They didn’t need fancy dashboards or data warehouses to figure it out, they relied on direct, observational research. They literally went into malls and counted bikes.

“If we go to malls and count bikes. If we see one of ours, five from our competitor, and two from others, we estimate our market share in that area. We do this kind of research all the time.”

This kind of scrappy research has become a core part of their operating model. It helps them identify pockets of opportunity and understand where demand is organically growing. By focusing on sectors 2 and 3, where their office and service infrastructure are located, they’ve built a loyal user base with minimal overhead. Even so, the data they’ve gathered suggests a much larger market is waiting to be unlocked.

The team believes Bucharest alone could support five to ten times their current fleet. Considering they’ve only scratched the surface of the city’s geography and user base, the growth potential is massive. And Daniel’s not relying on hunches. He’s got eyes on the ground, daily data from his operations, and courier feedback loops that help guide decisions.

Beyond the capital, they’ve already tested expansion strategies. In Cluj, they deployed a small pilot: just six bikes, rented to two B2B clients. No office. No staff on the ground. Just efficient logistics and a local service partner.

“We did a six-month test in Cluj. The bikes were rented to two companies. We had no physical office, but as long as the bikes came in regularly for service, we were fine.”

That model worked and it gave them a blueprint. Now, they’re preparing to expand into Cluj, Timisoara, and Iasi with 50 to 100 bikes per city. Budapest is also on the horizon as their first international launch. The goal goes beyond increasing bike numbers, it’s about experimenting with operational models that can scale sustainably and efficiently. Scalability is baked into the way Daniel and his team approach every part of the business: from service loops and logistics to hiring and expansion strategy. It’s a mindset they apply consistently, with systems designed to grow as demand increases.

Competition and Differentiation

Renter operates in a space with two main types of competition: large companies with established fleets, and small entrepreneurs running 10–30 bikes. But Daniel sees that as an advantage rather than a limitation. The space is fragmented, and the bar for quality isn’t high, yet.

“Our competitor used a lower quality bike, but it worked at volume. Once we came in with a higher-quality bike, a lot of their clients switched to us.”

Renter focuses on delivering a complete experience: from the quality of the bikes to the responsiveness of the support team. The couriers they serve depend on reliability, not just mobility. A small breakdown could mean a missed shift, lost income, and unnecessary stress. So when Renter builds in quick servicing, clear terms, and responsive support, it creates a real bond with its users.

“Many couriers don’t want to deal with surprise costs. They want clarity. And that’s what we offer.”

This clarity becomes a competitive moat. And as the courier workforce grows more diverse, the need for tailored support increases. Many riders are immigrants navigating layered systems that impact their daily work, legal responsibilities, and social lives.

“We work with the Foreign Workers Association. They run traffic safety training sessions in multiple languages for immigrant riders.”

This approach is both thoughtful and strategic, combining social awareness with long-term business sense. It builds trust in communities that often rely on word-of-mouth. It also signals that Renter is thinking long-term, not just about bike fleets but about social infrastructure.

Daniel is also open to exploring a franchise model to accelerate growth internationally. He recognizes that nobody understands a city better than someone who lives there. And that kind of local intelligence could be the difference between scaling smart and scaling blindly. 

The Human Side of Scaling

As the company scales, Daniel and his team face the growing pains familiar to many founders: delegation, hiring, and building internal systems. These are the critical shifts that move a startup from hustle-mode to structured growth. The work now involves designing systems that support long-term growth while protecting the well-being of the people driving the business forward.

“Until now, it was just us and a few mechanics. But now we need a full team. Developers, ops managers, support people.”

Daniel recognizes that in order to manage 500 to 1000 bikes across several cities, they need more than intuition and spreadsheets. That’s why they’ve started building a custom ERP system. This internal platform will allow them to track inventory, maintenance, payments, and customer interactions in one unified workflow. It’s an investment not just in tech, but in operational clarity.

Leadership development is quickly becoming one of Daniel’s strongest assets, helping him guide the company with clarity, care, and purpose. And it’s one of the most under-supported areas for founders at this stage.

Daniel’s vision for Renter is steadily becoming more structured, scalable, and expansive. As the company evolves, so do its ambitions, from refining operational systems and building a strong, values-driven team to exploring new markets and innovative growth models. With his thoughtful leadership and hands-on experience across product, service, and culture, Daniel is creating a company that’s not only positioned for national growth but ready to take on international challenges with confidence.

Conclusion: More Than Just Bikes

This conversation with Daniel opened the door to much more than a discussion about bikes. It revealed how practical ideas can turn into systems, how community needs inspire service design, and how a young founder can take ownership of a mission and build it into something impactful. It reminded me how many layers are involved when you’re building something that’s both local and scalable—especially when your customer base is as dynamic and diverse as the gig economy.

“We’re lucky to have angel investors who are involved and want to help. They understand what it takes to build something like this.”

From early experiments on the sidewalks of Chișinău to managing logistics for 170+ bikes across multiple Romanian cities, Daniel’s journey shows what can happen when clarity meets courage. He’s shown us that good ideas don’t need to wait until after college, or until you’ve figured everything out. Sometimes they just need a question, a few bold steps, and a lot of community listening.

As Renter prepares for international expansion, builds software, and grows a values-driven team, the path ahead looks both challenging and exciting. And while they’re navigating this fast-moving growth, Daniel’s focus remains deeply human: care for riders, quality in service, and culture in team building.

If you’re exploring ways to scale a tech-enabled service or improve your operational clarity, let’s talk.