July 2024 Startup Grant Awarded to CargoB

We’re excited to announce the $10,000 Startup Grant recipient for July 2024. Congratulations to Dorothy Fennell, founder of CargoB.

Recently, WomensNet Advisory Board member Jama Hernandez sat down with Dot for an exclusive interview. You can listen to their conversation and view the transcript below.

Video Transcript

WomensNet: Hi everyone. My name is Jama with WomensNet and we’re so excited to introduce our 2024 July winners. We’re excited to meet with our Amber Grant winner, Rebecca with Full Spectrum Learn & Play. And we also have with us Dot with CargoB. She is our startup grant winner. And then finally we have with us Debbie, with Swell Gelato for Dogs. And the category that we chose to highlight this month was animal services. Dot, our startup grant winner with CargoB. please tell us, what is Cargo? 

Dot: I just launched with my co-founder, CargoB this past May, and what we are doing is bringing cargo bike share. So is this between standard scooter and bike share and car share to the commercial marketplace. We are the first in the country to do this, and my background is in transportation planning. And what I saw in the work that I do in talking to commuters every day for almost 20 years, is that folks really do have a desire to keep on biking for short distance trips, but don’t have an efficient way to carry larger, heavy loads. And those loads could be everything from your own children or it could be something that you’ve purchased off Facebook marketplace, a grocery run, or picnic supplies. And what I hope is that by creating an opportunity to keep on biking, even when you have to carry these things, that folks can actually move away from being so dependent on their cars and contribute to the things that make city living so unique and places that are healthy and sustainable and where we want to be.

WomensNet: Amazing. Awesome. I love the idea. I remember biking with one of those baskets in front of my bike and I couldn’t get the balance. And so I really love your, your bikes that you have going and the load that you can carry with them. We know that you’re working with and collaborating with other industries in your area. Maybe can you tell us a little bit about some of your business partners and collaborations that you have, and how do you work with them in such a niche industry?

Dot: So when I think about the work that I did as transportation planner, I had a thing that I was good at and that was city planning and interpretation. And there’s a lot of things that I can speak to and understand, but I’m not a climate planner, I’m not a public space planner. And so I really enjoyed the kind of relationships where we had collaboration. You know, definitely we could be working together on things we had like our strong suits. And when I think about the work with cargoB, it’s a similar approach. So I’m not a software developer, I’m not a hardware developer, I’m not a bike mechanic. But my skill here is being able to understand the policy and stack these different consumer devices on top of each other in order to create a service, which is essentially rental of a new type of vehicle cargo bike.

So you’re welcome to go and buy your own cargo bike. But there was not a platform in which it was app based the way it would be for any of the other micro mobility companies. There wasn’t a cargo bike available on those platforms. And so I was able to get my software provider and I was able to get my hardware provider. I then teamed up with a local nonprofit that is a bike organization that runs a bike shop as well as other aspects that has a mission that matches our own. And I also have private property partners where we locate our bikes. So they’re not on city property, they’re on private property. And it’s this relationship building that’s enabled me to be able to put our bikes out into the city of Boston and Somerville and Cambridge and to offer a service that I couldn’t do all on my own. And I think that’s probably a lot of advice I’m getting is, that I shouldn’t try to do everything on my own. So constantly reevaluating our ideas about how we want to operate as a business and where I can not just outsource but learn from and partner with other organizations to bring us both along in this journey to improve mobility in Boston.

WomensNet: Wow, that’s a lot of organizations and partners you’re working with, and I can’t think of a more perfect person to do this! What a wonderful skillset you have! Can you tell us how our WomensNet network can find you? Like, what’s your website?

Dot: Our website is www.ridecargob.com. Our app is available on Google and Apple- so the Play Store and Android store. We are very active on Instagram, @ridecargob. You can reach out directly at hello@ridecargob.com. Happy to connect and talk about mobility.

WomensNet: Amazing. It would be just awesome for other cities to implement a similar structure. On your website there’s a really great video on how to access CargoB services and bikes. And so I thought that was pretty cool, and I look forward to being in your city one day and using it!

Dot: Let me know when you come to town, we’ll definitely get you on one.

WomensNet: Wonderful. Well, well there you have it. Our WomensNet July 2024 winners. Congratulations and we can’t wait to see what amazing things you will continue doing in the next few months and beyond. Thank you so much.