Today comes the sad news that Swedish electric motorcycle company Cake has filed for bankruptcy.
Founded in 2017, the company designs and manufactures high-performance electric on and off-road motorcycles.
It has released five adult motorcycles and one child’s bicycle, with a wide variety of users and applications, including commercial use for last-mile delivery and other short-haul urban transportation. It has sold about 6000 bikes.
It opened a 2800-square-metre factory in Sweden in 2020 and planned an additional factory in the US.
Had previously stated: “We know that we will not be cash flow positive until we sell 7,500 to 10,000 vehicles annually. ”
The company has storefronts in major cities such as Stockholm, Los Angeles, New York, Paris, Seoul, and Tokyo. It licensed a store in Czechia in January this year.
Various media sources, including Dagens Industri, report that the company is in a world of pain due to a failure to secure its latest round of venture funding. The 140 employees have yet to receive payment for the last pay period.
Stefan Ytterborn, Founder and CEO of CAKE told DI:
“It is not one but several circumstances that make us end up in this situation. Climate issues are no longer in focus; we are in a recession. It's about us, but it's also about the risk capital ecosystem.
At the moment, it is completely dead; there are no takers in the later phase Cake is in.”
The company has raised $74.4 million in funding.
In November, the company signed a contract with Automotive Solutions SA for 1,500 electric motorcycles for Greece and Cyprus. It started delivering the Ultra Light Racing Tool Bukk LTD to customers just two weeks ago.
2023 was undeniably a tough year for scaleups in the mobility space. Companies like Clevr shuttles, Volta Trucks, and Uno filed for bankruptcy, while others struggled to bring their products to market or scale their customer base. Many companies were left reeling with the COVID shutdowns and materials (including battery) shortages of 2020, and more recently, rising costs of electricity and parts, and inflation
This year has already seen Trilvee close in the UK, and Tech.eu has heard rumours of other mobility startups and scaleup bankruptcies soon to be announced.
At a time when sustainability is critical for the future of our planet, it is disappointing to see mission-critical businesses that get people away from car ownership hit hard by the current financial climate.
Hopefully, fresh funding or an acquisition will help Cake come back to life in one form or another.
Lead image: Cake. Photo: uncredited.
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