Nearhuman, a physical AI startup based at Bristol Robotics Laboratory, has raised £350,000 in Pre-Seed funding led by SFC Capital. The company will use the capital to advance on-device safety technology for shared e-scooter and e-bike fleets. Its goal is to provide operators and city councils with clear evidence about how vehicles are used while protecting rider privacy.
A Growing Safety Problem
Shared e-scooters have become a routine part of travel in many cities, but injuries have increased alongside their popularity. Department for Transport figures show that e-scooter casualties in Great Britain more than tripled from 454 in 2020 to 1,477 in 2025. The trend is also visible in Europe, where Germany recorded 16,496 e-scooter injury accidents in 2025, a 38% annual increase, and e-scooter deaths in France rose from 45 to 80.
The Missing Evidence
Operators, councils, and road safety groups are already working on better infrastructure, rider education, enforcement, and vehicle design. Despite these efforts, there is often limited direct evidence of how and where shared vehicles are actually ridden. Nearhuman was founded to close that gap with technology that can be fitted to vehicles already on the street.
Onboard AI for Real-Time Detection
The company is developing a camera module that attaches to existing shared scooters and bikes without requiring fleet replacement. AI running directly on the vehicle detects pavement riding, close calls with pedestrians, and road hazards as they happen. This approach turns ordinary vehicles into safety sensors capable of generating street-level information.
Privacy Built Into Hardware
A central feature of Nearhuman's system is that video footage is processed and redacted on board the vehicle. This means sensitive material does not need to be uploaded or stored externally. The design aims to give fleet operators safety insights while addressing public concerns about surveillance, privacy, and data protection.
Founder's Journey and Mission
Founder Faizan Mir grew up in Kashmir and began building engineering projects at a young age. At 14, he built a drone and a working flamethrower, earning national recognition, but his father asked how such inventions help people. That question pushed him toward robotics for social impact, leading him to represent North India in Mobile Robotics at IndiaSkills, win a Medallion for Excellence, and later study at UWE Bristol.
Leadership Perspective
Mir, 24, now chief executive of Nearhuman, says his father's question has shaped everything he has built since. He believes shared scooters and bikes are among the best things to happen to cities, but the people responsible for them often lack good data on street conditions. According to Mir, technology alone will not fix the problem, and better streets, education, and enforcement all matter.
Investor View
Ed Stevenson, Principal at SFC Capital, said AI has already changed how people work on screens, and the next shift will be AI that runs inside physical machines. He sees e-scooters as a smart place to start because they present a real safety problem in UK cities today. Stevenson added that what Nearhuman is really building is an intelligence layer for the physical world.
Pilot and Commercial Plans
Nearhuman has launched a live pilot in Bristol to test the system under real-world conditions. The company plans to release additional AI products in the coming months as it gathers feedback from operators. The £350,000 Pre-Seed investment will support product development, on-street testing, and commercial deployment across early partner fleets.
Nearhuman's Pre-Seed round positions the company to address an urgent urban mobility safety challenge with privacy-conscious hardware and onboard AI. By turning existing shared vehicles into street-level sensors, the startup hopes to supply the evidence that operators and councils have so far been unable to collect at scale. Its Bristol pilot and planned product releases will be an important test of the approach in the UK and Europe.