Two months after raising £1.8m and weeks after removing all its bikes from service following a customer “accident”, bike-share start-up HumanForest is now launching a £1m crowdfunding campaign.

Founded by Agustín Guilisasti – formerly of Cabify, who manage rideshare schemes in Spain, Brazil and elsewhere – HumanForest bills itself as “London’s only truly sustainable electric city bike.”

All the firm’s bikes run off electricity from certified renewable sources, while rentals are free for the first 10 minutes of each user’s daily journey.

HumanForest had planned to expand after raising £1.8m in September, but then later in the month announced it would be going on hiatus until spring of next year after a customer "accident" prompted it to remove all hire bikes from the streets of the capital.

Although the customer in question was unhurt, there was enough concern that a decision was taken to re-launch with a new e-bike. The company also said that the hiatus meant it would need to operate with a "significantly reduced team" in the short-term.

HumanForest is now taking to CrowdCube in a bid to raise a further £1m, with the campaign due to go live on November 17.

“At the heart of HumanForest is a desire to help people make sustainable choices that protect the environment,” said Guilisasti. “We are excited to launch the crowdfunding campaign, creating another way for sustainability-minded people to do just that.

“With the crowd’s investment, we will facilitate up to 7,000 rides and avoid almost four tons of Co2 from being emitted into London’s air every day. Climate change can be overwhelming and there are still so many unknowns but HumanForest is a choice Londoners can make in their day-to-day lives to reduce their carbon footprint.”

Money raised will be used to buy e-bikes with plans to open in 10 London boroughs with 1,000 e-bikes next spring, before adding five more boroughs and 500 e-bikes by July.

Caroline Seton, Head of Growth, added: “The micro-mobility industry is forecast to grow 20% per year until 2030, transforming cities and helping to create a greener future for all. Over 8m trips per day could be cycled in London and HumanForest, through this campaign, hopes to help facilitate this mode shift, giving the crowd an opportunity to be part of the movement.”