Belgian e-bike pioneer Cowboy raises €5M, eyes profitability in 2025

Belgian e-bike manufacturer Cowboy has raised €5 million and is gearing up for profitability and accelerated growth in 2025.

I spoke to Adrien Roose, co-founder and CEO of Cowboy, who describes the funding news as "green shoots for the industry." 

From supply chain woes to oversupply

The mobility industry — especially bicycles and e-bikes — suffered the pain of supply chain delays during four years of COVID, despite a surge of interest in cycling. 

Hardware is never easy. VanMoof went bankrupt in July 2023 — Cowboy created the Bikey app to ensure that tens of thousands of riders globally could still use their bikes. 

Further, the biggest bike maker in Europe, Accell Group (Raleigh, Lapierre, Ghost, etc.), is facing the mammoth task of reducing €1.2 billion debt. 

Then, out of the weeds of the pandemic, many bike OEMs went into full drive in manufacturing, which unfortunately resulted in an excess of unsold inventory.

But Roose is optimistic, predicting that inventory levels will have normalised as of next season, noting:

"I think there's resilience and adaptability. The fact that we are still here is probably a testament that we're doing good things and managing to stream against the currents."

Investing in the greater good

The funding is led by a new strategic investor, Cypress Capital, its first Asian investor with strong relationships in Taiwan, sits at the heart of bicycle manufacturing. 

Taiwan is the hub of bicycle manufacturing, home to half of the world's bike component suppliers. As Roose notes, "This makes us more credible as a partner and makes it far easier for us to do business in Taiwan."

Alongside Cypress Capital, Cowboy has secured continued financial backing from its existing investors, including Index Ventures, Hardware Club, Future Positive Capital, Isomer, and Exor. Cowboy aims to achieve full-year profitability by 2025.

Repeat investment highlights the value of investments in the greater good, as Roose shared:

"This is an industry which most investors believe in. Most people agree fairly easily that e-bikes are going to be the most common or most popular mode of transport within cities, given it's greener, faster, cheaper, healthier. That's why it's grown so fast over the last decade."

In addition to this strategic investment, Cowboy will launch a crowdfunding campaign on Crowdcube on Monday, September 9th, inviting its global rider community to participate in this exciting next phase of the company's journey. 

Community involvement has previously played a key role in Cowboy's success in raising €8 million via 8,000 crowd investors over the years. 

Four years ago, Cowboy decided to open its capital structure to its community through Crowdcube.

"Every time we do a financing round, we actually now have the obligation to let our community participate in the round."

Roose calls it a journey, recalling, "I remember the first time I did a webinar to hundreds of people and started sharing numbers. I felt completely naked. It was a horrible experience. It was terrifying. But the results, I think, are worth it. I think we're a stronger company because of it."

"Cowboy is delivering the right product in the right place at the right time. Despite the challenges of a turbulent market, the company has made significant strides by focusing on perfecting hardware design, software upgrades, and business model transformation," said Caren Huang, Portfolio Manager, Cypress Capital. 

"Cowboy has demonstrated its resilience and competitive edge in a challenging industry. We are excited to support Cowboy's mission to become the premium brand in e-mobility."

Cowboy's omnichannel sales approach pays off

An omnichannel approach to sales means that Cowboy has capitalised on various customer segments. 

Over 20 per cent of the company's sales come from cycle-to-work schemes. Until last year, the customer sales were direct-to-consumer, but this year, the company has built relationships with brick-and-mortar bike retailers to sell their bikes. Cowboy e-bikes are now available in more than 250 independent bike shops across Europe offering after-sales servicing support.

While the brand has always had mobile test rides, as Roose shared: 

"Most people in Europe still go to their local bike dealer to get advice and buy bikes. E-bikes are expensive, complicated products that people want to try before they buy them. 

It's important to put the bikes in the real world so that people can try them."

That said, bricks-and-mortar sales come with their own challenges for e-bike OEMs, especially in terms of onboarding and training in-store staff, as Roose shared:

"We had some learnings, and we're still on a journey supporting staff who support many bike brands, each with their unique specifications and custom tooling." 

Cowboy also follows the trend in mobility for circularity, with the continued interest in second-hand and subscription offerings. It recently unveiled a trade-in program with Upway.

A larger addressable market

In March, Cowboy expanded its addressable market with the launch of Cross, its most versatile e-bike to date, helping to double the company's total addressable market and already received the GQ Ebike of the Year Award. 

Cowboy's software expertise continues to set it apart from other competitors, demonstrated by the success of its most recent update to AdaptivePower™, its patented technology that enables the best riding experience on the market with no gears or modes. 

Cowboy's rider community continues to grow, with a global community of riders who have now travelled more than 150 million kilometres. 

Overall there's plenty to be optimistic about. According to Roose:

"Just as the AI era depends on chips and data centres, the greener, more flexible future we envision rests on progress in physical infrastructure.

With new investment, unwavering support from our current investors, the power of the crowd, and continuous innovation, Cowboy is well positioned to lead the category."

So what's next for the company? While Cowboy never reveals the secrets of its upcoming product roadmap, Roose offered hints that the company would focus on enhancing highly valued safety and security features, including crash detection:

"We have also started experimenting and investing in developing more interactive features. As our community grows, we've already started building the foundations for becoming a social platform, enabling people to build their own profiles. I think the next step is to let them interact with each other. 

If people can just simply meet each other to go for a ride, I think that would be a beautiful experience."

Lead image: Cowboy co-founders, Adrien Roose and Tanguy Goretti. Photo: uncredited.