Modmo backed to tune of €5 million, brand stores coming

Electric bike label Modmo has seen fresh backing to the tune of €5 million, put forward by property mogul Sean Mulryan.

The Irish Times reported late last week that the brand’s funding raised over the past year now sits at a comfortable €8.7 million, which the modular electric bike firm will now invest in expanding business into and beyond the eight European countries now served. At the present time, Germany makes up 85% of sales, but the brand now has eyes for North America and will open its first dealership in Vancouver, Canada. An initial €1 million raise came last year.

The Vietnam-made but Irish-Owned label was started by Jack O’Sullivan, who now brings on board property developer Sean Mulyran as the largest investor to date. Across his portfolio of properties Mulyran has plotted 80,000 bike parking spaces to drive a shift to cycling. Some of these plots will house Modmo electric bikes. The property developer has more than 10,000 homes built and a further 15,000 in the pipeline.

“Germany will still be our key market this year. It is pretty much the centre of the universe for ebikes sales and I expect it will represent about 60 to 70 per cent of sales in 2022,” O’Sullivan told the Irish paper.

One of a handful of electric bike brands to come out of Vietnam in recent years, Modmo has a team of 36 based in southern city Ho Chi Minh, while the Dublin team handles sales, marketing and backup. The investment cash is expected to boost the Vietnamese team by as much as three fold.

Mulyran told the Irish Times: “The future cities will have transport sectors powered predominately by electrification. Electric bikes are already playing a role and are fast becoming one of the most popular modes of urban transport throughout Europe.”