Loud Mobility acquires Cyclechic, bolsters 2024 impact

Sustainable transport start-up Loud Mobility has announced an agreement to acquire cycling e-commerce business Cyclechic.

The deal unites two of the sector’s most dynamic female entrepreneurs, Georgia Yexley and Caz Conneller, respectively the founders of Loud Mobility Ltd and Cyclechic Ltd.

Conneller, who will become Loud’s Director of Community and Culture, launched the Cyclechic brand in 2007. Catering to stylish female cyclists, the company addressed the barriers to cycling faced by women and pioneered the crossover of cycling and fashion in the UK.

The announcement highlights that Conneller brings extensive experience and a substantial professional network into a new business unit at Loud Mobility. The Community and Culture team will build high-profile behaviour-change campaigns that aim to challenge the status quo to make sustainable journeys accessible and enjoyable for all.

Loud Mobility, a social enterprise set up by sustainable mobility veteran Yexley, seeks to build a more equitable transport system. It began trading in February 2023 and has already made waves in the sustainable transport and mobility space.

The company has delivered a range of high-impact projects, from supporting early-stage and social impact founders in mobility to develop their commercial strategies, to delivering the partnership between global charity World Bicycle Relief and the UCI Cycling World Championships. The common thread: a mission to deliver benefits to people, places and the planet by widening participation in sustainable mobility.

The first campaign that Conneller heads up is She’s Electric, which began as an awareness campaign on the Cyclechic platforms and now expands to shifting the narrative on electric bikes on a national scale by inspiring and directly enabling more women to use them in their everyday lives. The campaign aims to reach over one million women across the nation by the end of 2024.

Cyclechic’s retail arm will cease operations early in 2024 as the acquisition is completed and the mission to enable joyful sustainable journeys takes focus. Today, Conneller publishes a love letter to her customers, thanking them for their support.

To celebrate their new partnership, and to raise awareness of the She’s Electric campaign, Yexley and Conneller (plus a special guest) will cycle by Tern e-Cargo bikes from London to the International Cargo Bike Festival and Fully Charged Live Europe in Amsterdam this month, where both Conneller and Yexley will be guest speakers.

Georgia Yexley said: “Innovation through collaboration is at the heart of Loud Mobility. From the moment we began discussions to sharing this exciting news, it has been truly inspiring and empowering to see what can be achieved by living by those values. This is a major step for Loud Mobility, and it comes at the close of a successful first year. Reinvesting profit into our growth and our mission by onboarding Caz, and the expansive network and experience she brings, is the right way to catalyse our sustainable growth.”

Caz Conneller said: “I am immensely proud of everything we have achieved through Cyclechic over the past 16 years. The company has shifted perceptions and invited more women into cycling. But now is the time for change. Coming on board as Director of Community and Culture at Loud Mobility feels like entirely the right move to further Cyclechic’s mission. We are committed to significantly growing participation when it comes to cycling, active travel and micromobility, particularly among currently underrepresented groups.”