Bike43, a young start-up who is designing and marketing an innovative family-friendly electric bike, has just landed bank financing to accelerate its development. It is the recent Nyuko – BIL partnership that made this first funding for an innovative start-up possible through the InnovFin tool within nyuko. We met Jean-Michel Mertz, co-founder of Bike43, to learn more about the adventure.
How was the Bike 43 project born?
To avoid traffic jams in the city, my partner at the origin of the project, Etienne Richelle, wanted to get around by bike, especially for getting his daughter to school, going grocery shopping or to work. Naturally he and his wife opted for a child’s seat at the back of a conventional bicycle they had. This first experience was not great: in fact, the bike didn't offer enough space to bring back shopping for the family. In addition, the parents have both had an accident while transporting their daughter, fortunately not serious, as a result of the lack of bike stability with the baggage rack. Etienne therefore sought a more secure alternative (trailers, cargo bike, etc.), both for children and parents, but he couldn't find a satisfactory solution. Being an engineer in the automotive sector, he began tinkering in his garage to create a solution, to design the first prototype of Bike43, the bike that meets family transportation needs.
What was the next part of your journey?
We had a "lean" approach to the project, meaning we favoured a rapid market launch, in order to collect user feedback as quickly as possible and improve our product by iteration. Therefore, the first model was really in the "start-up" spirit, consisting of dismantled bike parts that were then re-soldered together, again from our garage! Our learning curve was very steep and we were able to find truly innovative solutions, especially in dealing with the recurring instability problems conventional bikes have. Etienne found a brilliant solution for the geometry of the bike and the children’s positioning, for which a patent has also been applied, and that can seat up to two children in the back of the bike, by solving the instability problem, while maintaining a size similar to a classic city bike. We place great importance on the materials and components: the electric motor is German, the frame and the assembly are made in Europe. After two beta versions, we have just started marketing our first official model and are struggling to cope with the demand!
So is it available for purchase right now for interested families?
For families, yes, but not exclusively. Of course the bike can be equipped with one or two child seats for children up to 10 years, but this is not its only use. We really thought about it in a modular way: it can be very useful for example for a young couple, who can do their shopping easily with the saddlebags and baskets in the back. When they’ll have one or two children, the saddlebags will be supplemented with dedicated seats. Once the children will be grown, the bike will return to its original use. It was really designed for the long term, with no planned obsolescence, as is the case with so many products. And all of this within a compact size: it is only 10cm longer than a standard city bike! And its weight fits in the same range as conventional electric bicycles. We are confident that our bike is a viable alternative to the car in the city centre. It is now available in Luxembourg, Belgium, Germany, France, Switzerland and the Netherlands and is coming to England and the Scandinavian countries soon. Readers can ask us through our site!
How did you finance Bike43 so far?
There’s no secret to it, we started with our personal money as well as a huge investment in time, in our garage – I am sure you see what I mean! Then, we managed to get a helping hand from nyuko’s 1,2,3 GO programme that we joined in 2015. Beyond the financial side, being in the spotlight allowed us to boost our image and credibility. Nyuko did indeed offer us to participate in the 2015 edition of the Seed4Start risk capital forum, during which we met our (hopefully) future investors. The next stage was getting adequate financing from BIL for working capital, supported by financial instruments like InnovFin and Mutualité de Cautionnement et d’Aide aux Commerçants (MCAC – Mutual for Loan Guarantees) from the Chamber of Commerce, each step in partnership with nyuko.
What kind of support did nyuko provide in this funding adventure?
We share a long history with nyuko as we first participated in the 1,2,3 GO programme, followed by the Seed4start programme, and eventually we took advantage of the guidance provided by nyuko funding! Even though we already had a certain degree of maturity when joining 1,2,3 Go, the programme helped us to consistently structure our business plan, to overcome weaknesses that we had not necessarily identified beforehand. It was indeed a helpful introduction to the coaching received in the framework of Seed4start in order to improve our pitch deck. Last but not least, the assistance provided was instrumental in order to get our banking credit. Nicolas Valaize, the manager in charge of nyuko funding, acted as a middleman during the operation so as to facilitate the exchanges between the various parties.
What’s your strategy for 2016?
We aim at contacting a maximum of resellers, in particular on our European market, and to sell them a first bike so that as many clients as possible can see it, try it, adopt it! It’s great fun to ride a Bike43 and it’s only when trying it that you realise the pleasure you get out of it. That’s the reason why we expect word of mouth to do a lot before we shall indeed activate other communication relays. With warmer weather approaching, the biking season will start soon, so it’s a critical moment for us.
A final word Jean-Michel?
Definitely! Listen to our current scoop: next Thursday, the Design Museum in Gent will inaugurate a bike exhibition called "Bike to the future", and they invited us to come and display our Bike43. We consider it a great honour and a certain recognition to be there, next to works of art designed by prestigious designers such as Philippe Starck!
Discover the video (in french) produced on Bike43 during the 1,2,3 GO programme and have a look at their site!
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