Thursday, 28 March 2024
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Reconditioned e-bike firm raises £20 million investment funding

Upway, a refurbished e-bike specialists, have secured Series A funding to the value of £20mn, led by investors Exor Seeds and Sequoia Capital.

The Paris based business, founded in 2021 by Toussaint Wattinne and Stéphane Ficaja, both former senior executives at Uber, previously attracted £4.26mn in funding from Sequoia and Global Founders Capital during November of 2021.

The business effectively functions as a marketplace, buying e-bikes from people and businesses, which it then appraises, repairs or reconditions, as required, before re-selling them at prices which make e-bike ownership more attainable for a wider marketplace. Critically this is an online venture, enabling rapid territory expansion, with e-bikes delivered direct to the customers home.

Upway offers customers a 14 day trial period, and backs the e-bikes it sells with a 1 year warranty.

Banner with bike close up in background. Text reads "Upway wants to become your partner"

Making a play for partnerships with bicycle shops enables both traditional shops, and customers, from a wider geographic region to both win. Critically, this keeps bikes being ridden, rather than gathering dust, left in storage, and also enables new bike purchases via trade-in options.

The business currently operates in France and Belgium, with bikes shipped directly to customers from a warehouse near Paris. In a detailed feature, TechCrunch highlights that “Upway will soon launch its marketplace in Germany, the Netherlands and the U.S.” Region specific websites are already listed on the parent site, and, by the end of 2022, the company will have three different warehouses.

The business highlights that it sees “Mobility will be electric, circular, (and) accessible”, with its offer of second life e-bikes enabling a wider shift toward micromobility solutions, moving people away from cars.

Of the investors in Upway, it should be pointed out that Sequoia Capital is a serial cycling industry investor, forming part of a $110 million series F round of funding which Strava drew in November of 2020.