Cogo – E-scooters, bikes, cars and mopeds - Interview with the developer of a fantastic app

Did you have any prior development or coding experience?

Yes. I have been developing and coding most of my professional life. I actually started coding already as a young kid when my grandfather - who was an Engineer - introduced me to it in the late 1980s. Since then I have been building desktop apps, mobile apps, and websites, as well as working with infrastructure, and backend and cloud services.
Before Cogo, I was part of the founding team in momondo and was responsible for developing the product from the very first line of code.

What was the most challenging aspect of developing mobile app?

First of all, I had to learn a new framework, React Native, which makes it easy to build apps for both Android and iOS using the same code base. But it takes a while to fully understand how to use it efficiently, and how to get a similar look and behavior across both platforms.
Also, working with mobile apps is more challenging than working with websites, mainly because of the distribution of the apps. For websites, it’s much easier to quickly deploy a bug fix that is immediately available to users. For mobile apps, you need to deploy to app stores, wait for your app to be reviewed by Google and Apple, and then hope that the users will update to the new version quickly.

_{Cogo Mobility}

The interview questions were answered by Mr. Martin Røssell who is a Co-founder and CTO at Cogo Mobility. Cogo searches and compares prices of +200 mobility operators for human or electric-powered scooters, bikes, cars and mopeds. Launched in 2020, Cogo has now one of the most comprehensive operator coverage in Europe and has helped tens of thousands of users in over 100 countries to find environmentally-friendly shared rides. Cogo is available in ten languages (Danish, Dutch, English, French, German, Italian, Norwegian, Portuguese, Spanish and Swedish) and can be used in over 500 cities worldwide. Cogo is free to use and can be downloaded to iPhone and Android. Cogo gathers shared rides for frictionless mobility and a better tomorrow.

Name a few of your favorite apps and reason you love them.

I’m biased, but I love everything that makes my life easier; apps that aggregate and compare different products and tell me where to get stuff fastest or cheapest. That is what momondo and Cogo do.
I also love Slack for communicating with colleagues, sharing knowledge, and discussing topics when working remotely.
I love watching movies and sports, so it would be hard for me without streaming apps like Netflix, HBO, TennisTV, Eurosport Player, etc.

How long have you been working on this app?

Cogo was released last year in a first version, mostly as a proof of concept. I joined Cogo early this year and worked with the team to upgrade the app from the initial version to the most comprehensive aggregator for shared on-demand mobility.

What need of the user did you have in mind when developing this app?

In some European cities, you need 15-20 different apps on your phone to get an overview of all the available rides around you. The user would have to install all those apps, as well as create profiles and enter payment details in every single one. That’s not acceptable for any user, who basically just wants to go quickly from A to B.
This is where Cogo can help by bringing all the rides across multiple operators into one app to give the full overview.

In what way do you think your app is better than similar apps on the market? Please describe in detail what innovation you think you bring and what you are proud of in your app.

First of all, we have the most comprehensive coverage of on-demand mobility. Cogo searches more than 200 operators in more than 500 cities worldwide, and we constantly monitor the industry and the markets for new operators to include. I believe we have succeeded in making a complex problem more intuitive, user-friendly, and appealing to our users.

What are your future plans and expected features of the coming new versions of this app?

Right now, Cogo gives you the full overview of all available rides, but we still send you to the operator app for starting and paying for the ride.
We are currently working on deep integrations with several operators to facilitate the whole journey inside Cogo; finding the ride, starting it and lastly paying for it.

Assuming new users of your app are reading this page. What do you want to ask them to do (contact you about X, Share the app, etc.)?

Our mission is to continue to have the most comprehensive search, so if you find a ride from a mobility operator which is not in Cogo, please let us know, so we can check and add the operator to our search. And obviously, if you like Cogo and what we do, please use it, share it, and write a review in app stores.