Electric bike maker raises £59m amid rise in demand from UK riders

Electric bike maker Cowboy has raised 80 million US dollars (£59.2 million) to ramp up its global expansion into environmentally conscious travel.

The Brussels-based group’s latest funding round, which was led by investors Exor, HCVC and Siam Capital, has brought the total raised so far by the group to 120 million US dollars (£88.8 million).

It follows the release of the Cowboy 4, an electric bike targeted at urban riders.

With the investment the company plans to continue its US expansion, and open two new retail stores, the first in February in Paris followed by a second store in May in Berlin.

They also are aiming to produce more than 50% of bike parts and components in Europe, to reduce reliance on long-distance freight.

The investment round also saw it attract funding from Tiger Global, Index Ventures, Eothen, Isomer Opportunities Fund, Future Positive Capital and Triple Point Capital.

Cowboy first launched in the UK in November 2019 and its sales in the UK rose 90% in 2021 compared with 2020.

Electric bikes have been steadily increasing in popularity across the UK and worldwide, with 637,740 km (about 39,000 miles) ridden by Cowboy customers in Britain last year – a 230% increase on 2020.

Adrien Roose, co-founder and chief executive of Cowboy, said: “I’m thrilled to welcome Siam Capital on board along with the renewed support of our investors to accelerate our company growth and product innovation.

“With this new capital, we’re bringing our industrial design and technological development in house.

“This will give us a further competitive edge as the most sought after electric bike brand.”

The company was founded in 2017 by start-up entrepreneurs Mr Roose, Karim Slaoui and Tanguy Goretti, and has won the Eurobike 2017, the Red Dot bicycle design award 2018 and the Red Dot Best of the Best award for product design in 2019 and 2021 models.

Tanguy Goretti, co-founder and chief technology officer of Cowboy, said: “In just over two months’ time since we released the new app, our riders have cycled almost 2.5 million kilometres.

“They’re riding further and more often – an 8% increase in distance travelled and a 15% increase in moving time.”