They used to be called GetHenry and they worked from Vienna, but their startup is now called Cycle, with its headquarters in Berlin: the founders Luis Orsini-Rosenberg and Nikodemus Seilern created a bike for their e-bike company, which equips other companies with bicycles Series A funding round raised $11.3 million. The company plans to use the fresh capital for further expansion in Europe and to expand its product range.
Cycle is the startup that supplies e-bikes to messengers from delivery services such as Gorillas, Flink, Just Eat Takeaway.com and Wolt. The full-service mobility solution for delivery services and couriers includes rental of e-bikes as well as maintenance, repair and software for the fleets. The company is already active in over 40 cities in Germany, Austria, Poland, Italy and the Netherlands. Cycle now plans to diversify its customer portfolio through projects with parcel service providers and establish partnerships in the area of pharmaceutical/drug delivery. The company has also launched a new e-bike called “20FIFTY”, which has a loading capacity of up to 200 kg and a powerful battery.
The financing round comes from lead investor Scania Growth Capital (East Hill Equity) with participation from Local Globe, EnBW New Ventures (ENV), Visionaries Club, Third Sphere, Founder Collective, APX and the SpeedUp Venture Capital group. “We estimate that at least half of all deliveries in urban areas could be handled with e-bikes and larger cargo bikes. This would not only result in less traffic on congested inner-city streets, but also a significant reduction in environmental impact,” said Luis Orsini-Rosenberg, CEO of Cycle, in a press release.
In May 2022, Cycle already scored in a seed financing round that brought 16.5 million euros. The capital consisted of ten million euros in equity and 6.5 million euros in outside capital.
Cycle: The latest e-bike subscription in Vienna runs on pretty fat tires
Expansion to letter and parcel logistics
They now want to grow further in Europe, expand to Great Britain and, in addition to delivery services, now also win companies from areas such as letter and parcel logistics. Cycle is currently active in 85 cities in Germany, Austria, Poland, Italy and the Netherlands. The goal is vertical integration, which includes everything from the production and financing of high-quality e-bikes, management of the fleet and regular maintenance by specialized mechanics.
Cycle also tried to start in the B2C sector and offered e-bike subscriptions first in Berlin and then in Vienna. But the focus on B2B business remains and will be further expanded. “The electrification of commercial delivery fleets is an important step towards reducing emissions. E-bikes are the best choice for last-mile deliveries because they help improve the flow of traffic in densely populated cities,” says Theodor Schulte from investor EnBW New Ventures.
The fact that the e-bike business in the B2C sector is difficult was shown this week by the bankruptcy of VanMoof – actually a star among e-bike startups. Despite investments of almost 190 million dollars and a bicycle boom, the Dutch company recently slid into bankruptcy.
VanMoof: bankruptcy for the “Tesla of e-bikes” despite 190 million dollar investments