Cambridge-based Zagster Inc. has raised $15 million to expand the new bike-sharing model it unveiled last fall.
The new funding comes from New Jersey-based Edison Capital Partners, the same growth equity firm that invested $10 million in Zagster last year. The 11-year-old company has now raised $32.2 million total.
Zagster's bike-sharing system, called Pace, was launched in December after several months of testing in Rochester, New York. About 20 cities and colleges have since committed to rolling out the Pace system, according to Zagster co-founder and CEO Tim Ericson.
Pace combines elements of traditional bike sharing, which relies on a few centralized docking stations, with elements of the "dockless" strategy employed most prominently by a host of Chinese-born startups. Pace users can leave their ride anywhere a bike can legally be locked, like public bike racks and some sign posts. But bikes can't be locked up in the middle of just any sidewalk — an alternative that is convenient for riders but has led to complaints in some cities about public space cluttered with bikes.
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