{"id":401723,"date":"2026-09-16T18:22:12","date_gmt":"2026-09-16T18:22:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/401723\/"},"modified":"2026-09-16T18:22:12","modified_gmt":"2026-09-16T18:22:12","slug":"beep-beep-freebee-and-beep-are-merging-here-are-the-details","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/401723\/","title":{"rendered":"Beep, beep: Freebee and Beep are merging. Here are the details."},"content":{"rendered":"

Freebee<\/a>\u2019s journey started in 2012 with two University of Miami friends,\u00a0 six electric vehicles, and an idea: Let\u2019s make it easier and more fun to get around Miami Beach. Fast forward to this year Freebee has more than 300 electric vehicles serving more than 50 municipalities, campuses and business districts throughout South Florida and beyond. Over the years, the Miami-based startup grew to deliver more than 2 million rides in 2025 and was on track to exceed that number this year.<\/p>\n

But we didn\u2019t see this turn of events coming.<\/p>\n

Freebee, co-founded by Jason Spiegel and Kris Kimball, \u00a0has been acquired by Beep<\/a>, an Orlando-area autonomous mobility company, in a deal announced today that combines two different approaches to the future of transportation. Freebee brings a large-scale, human-driven microtransit operation. Beep brings autonomous vehicles, its AI-driven AutonomOS software platform and years of experience managing autonomous transportation networks.<\/p>\n

\u201cJoined by Freebee, Beep is now among the largest microtransit providers in the country, offering 50 new communities and more than 2 million annual riders access to our full-stack platform that integrates human-driven and autonomous transit services into a single, flexible offering,\u201d said Kevin Reid, co-founder of Beep, in a statement. \u201cThis transaction accelerates the industry\u2019s journey to autonomous mobility, giving communities the ability to implement meaningful services today while giving people the flexibility to choose between human-driven, autonomous or blended transportation solutions.\u201d<\/p>\n

The companies will operate under the Beep name, but fear not, Freebee fans: Freebee\u2019s name will live on. Its microtransit services will continue to operate under the Freebee brand. Their HQ will be Beep\u2019s current base in Lake Nona. <\/p>\n

\u201cFreebee was built around a simple belief that transportation should do more than move people: it should strengthen communities, expand access and improve quality of life,\u201d added Spiegel. \u201cBringing Freebee and Beep together creates a company capable of delivering future-proof mobility solutions. I\u2019m incredibly proud of what our team has built and excited to offer customers a more comprehensive mobility platform.\u201d<\/p>\n

The merged company will be led by Beep co-founder Kevin Reid as chairman and chief executive officer, while Freebee\u2019s co-founders will join the executive team. Spiegel will be president and chief growth officer and Kimball will be COO. Beep co-founder Mark Reid will serve as chief customer officer. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.<\/p>\n

For Spiegel and Kimball, the transaction represents the latest turn in a journey that began when the two met as University of Miami freshmen. In the early 2010s, the two friends were looking for something more exciting than the jobs they had taken after college. At the same time, they were watching people struggle to get around Miami Beach, where taxi rides could mean long waits.<\/p>\n

They launched Freebee in 2012 with electric vehicles outfitted with big speakers, neon lighting and advertising wraps. The rides were free to passengers, with advertisers paying the bills. The micro-transit concept would became part of the Miami\u00a0 landscape, but with a change in the business model that brought on the massive growth.<\/p>\n

\u2713<\/p>\n

Check your inbox for a confirmation email.<\/p>\n

In 2017, Key Biscayne community leaders approached Freebee about helping solve traffic, parking and mobility problems. Instead of relying primarily on advertisers, the company could be paid by a municipality to provide transportation. Then Freebee began signing contracts with communities across South Florida and eventually expanded beyond the region. Its on-demand service offered something traditional fixed-route buses often could not: riders could request a vehicle through an app and be picked up where they were headed directly to where they wanted to go.<\/p>\n

The new model proved to be the path forward but still on track with the original mission: \u201cPeople want convenience. They want to get picked up where they\u2019re at and driven directly to where they need to go,\u201d said Spiegel, in Florida Trend<\/a> recently. \u201cIt\u2019s really about providing this service to as many communities as we can and improving their quality of life.\u201d<\/p>\n

The fleet grew, including Teslas and Volkswagen ID Buzz minivans. In recent years, Freebee expanded to a team of about 500 people and served metro areas around Florida and recently began expanding to other states too.<\/p>\n

\u00a0In Central Florida\u2019s Seminole County, Freebee\u2019s SCOUT service grew into one of the country\u2019s largest microtransit systems, with 42 vehicles covering roughly 190 square miles in five zones. The operation was carrying more than 30,000 riders a month as of this summer.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

In an earlier interview this year, the Freebee co-founders told me adding autonomous functionality was in their roadmap, and now they are part of a company that is all about that.<\/p>\n

Beep says the combined organization will serve more than 60 communities and employ nearly 1,000 people. Together the two companies have carried more than 10 million riders. Its strategy is not to immediately replace Freebee\u2019s human-driven service with autonomous vehicles. Instead, the companies say communities will be able to choose among human-driven, autonomous or blended transportation networks. This month, Beep closed<\/a> a Series B led by Mobileye and has raised $130 million to date.<\/p>\n

For Freebee, meanwhile, the deal marks the end of its run as an independent company but not the end of the brand or its mission. As the next phase unfolds, Freebee\u2019s technology, people, municipal relationships and operating experience become part of a larger mobility platform.<\/p>\n

\"\"Freebee cofounders Jason Spiegel and Kris Kimball with Beep cofounders Kevin and Mark Reid. Photo provided by Beep<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

READ MORE IN REFRESH MIAMI:<\/p>\n

\"Nancy<\/a> <\/p>\n

I am a writer and editor with extensive media experience and a passion for journalism and serving the community. Most of my career has been spent with the Miami Herald in business news, and my expertise is writing about tech and entrepreneurs. I love hosting this blog for Refresh Miami and we aim to be the go-to site for South Florida startup and tech news, features and views. Have news? Contact me at ndahlbergbiz@gmail.com. Thanks for reading!<\/p>\n

\"Nancy<\/a>Latest posts by Nancy Dahlberg (see all<\/a>) \t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Freebee\u2019s journey started in 2012 with two University of Miami friends,\u00a0 six electric vehicles, and an idea: Let\u2019s…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":401724,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[123,125,124],"class_list":["post-401723","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-miami","tag-miami","tag-miami-headlines","tag-miami-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/401723","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=401723"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/401723\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/401724"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=401723"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=401723"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=401723"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}