Finnish startup Revonte secures $2 million to 'make e-bikes smart'

Tampere, Finland-based Revonte has raised a $2 million seed round following the recent public release of their first e-bike drive system, dubbed Revonte ONE.

Founded in 2018, Revonte's seed investment round was led by Maki.vc, joined by Butterfly Ventures and a group of angel investors, and brings the total investment to $2.4 million. The startup has also received funding from Business Finland.

Built to equip the next generation of connected e-bikes, the startup's system features automatic stepless transmission and easy customisability in one package. With the investment, Revonte is preparing for the mass production phase and intends to 'aggressively grow its team'.

"As the motor defines the characteristics of an e-bike to a great extend, we saw how bike brands started losing their identity to the providers of drive systems. Customers were increasingly coming to stores asking for a bike with a specific motor – regardless of the bike brand. We wanted to change that with a fully customizable system, giving control back to the e-bike manufacturers", says Antero Jalkanen, co-founder and COO of Revonte.

Revonte is taking its drive system to mass production in 2020 with a few selected (unnamed) customers. Production will then be ramped up for e-bikes arriving in stores in 2021. Interestingly, Revonte will also be opening all their service APIs to third-party developers to build and integrate great products with its system.

"Just like in electric cars, software plays a major role in future e-bikes. A fully connected drive system can provide features like integrated theft protection, automatic ride tracking and remote diagnostics. With the help of our mobile app, end users can customize their e-bike and integrate it into their digital lives. The data collected by our platform helps users to see when their bike needs service and provides manufacturers an opportunity to improve their products based on real user data. Having an integrated solution is also very valuable for companies building bike sharing or rental systems as there is no need for additional components", added co-founder and CEO Otto Chrons.