But now, VanMouf’s strategy and momentum seem to have veered dangerously, according to several resources TechCrunch spoke with. Our resources tell us that VanMoof is working to secure a bridge that will keep you afloat. Sources also claim that senior executives, including the CEO and a co-founder, as well as the chairman (who is also an investor) have left leadership positions at the company. The company declined to provide any official comment on its prestige until later this week.
But the facts are clear: the company, since June 29 and according to its own admission, stopped receiving orders. VanMoof also filed documents, revealed in January, about its desire to increase the budget until bankruptcy.
Customers, upset by pauses and other delays in maintaining existing motorcycles on the road, took to social media such as Reddit and Twitter to voice their court cases and debate whether or not the company will go bankrupt.
Sources say a resolution on VanMouf’s fate may come as soon as this week. VanMoof provided comment on some facets of this story, but startup officials and investors ultimately declined to answer several more questions about what’s next.
The first recent and visual cracks in the company appeared in late June when prospective consumers discovered that its online ordering formula was no longer working.
“Unplanned formula maintenance: We can’t settle for new orders for motorcycles or accessories at this time. We apologize for the inconvenience, our team will take care of it. Sign up to receive a notification once we are driving again.
Soon after, the company’s Twitter account clarified that there was a technical factor causing the problem: “Lately, the VanMoof app has a bug that does not allow booking appointments through the app,” the tweet reads.
We are working to get the app working again as soon as possible.
– VanMoof (@VanMoof) June 26, 2023
The story returns a few days later.
In reaction to TechCrunch’s questions about the control system, a spokesperson said the pause was intentional (a feature, not a bug!).
Although the summer era is the peak season for the motorcycle market, a VanMoof spokesperson said it would suspend orders to catch up with production and delivery.
“We have suspended sales since this weekend,” he said. “What was a minor challenge for the computer had an unexpected benefit. The SX4 and SA5 [two new models introduced this year] have proven to be very popular product lines, and the proactive suspension of sales will give us the opportunity to catch up with delivery and production of existing orders. “
The company did not respond to any of TechCrunch’s multiple questions about why VanMoof had orders (supply chain problems?lack of funds?), what the company’s existing capacity was, how many orders were in progress, or when VanMoof expected to restart sales. At press time, the sales pause lasted 12 days.
Despite the pause and other details, VanMoof had sent out statements implying that the e-bike company was operating as usual. On June 27, it announced that KwikFit NL, the automotive services chain, would be a new service partner. The day before, it released a firmware update and a video of a panel in which co-founder Taco Carlier participated.
But there have been a number of cautionary symptoms in plain sight for months that tell another story.
In January, it emerged that the company was in talks with investors to raise between 10 and 40 million euros ($10. 8 million to $43. 3 million). Most sensibly, her last cycle of accounts led her to expect that it would struggle to remain liquid in the first quarter of the year without the injection of cash.
VanMoof managed to raise a little, but far from the amount it sought. PitchBook notes that its last investment was in January 2023, a $5. 23 million debt cycle from TriplePoint Capital in the U. S. U. S.
Since then, he learned from the resources that, in fact, VanMoof is looking to gather more, given the gap between what it has and what it wants to operate.
Glassdoor estimates that the company has between 500 and 1000 employees and, as far as we can see, there hasn’t been a notable series of layoffs to date, a cost-cutting measure that many in this low market have resorted to. But there have been some notable executive exits.
Gillian Tans, a former Booking. com director who also invested in VanMoof, joined as the company’s president on May 3, 2022, according to the company’s website.
A well-placed source familiar with the matter told TechCrunch that Tans left the company quietly, we don’t know exactly when. Notably, his LinkedIn profile does not mention VanMoof.
We also hear that Taco Carlier, who co-founded the company with his brother Ties, is no longer acting as CEO. VanMoof also did not comment on this detail, but does not mention the CEO as his LinkedIn title, and a recent appearance at the level, he was also described as a co-founder. It turns out that no one acts publicly as an executive director. He agreed to suspend publication.
For those who have noticed that company after company has raised significant funds for capital-intensive efforts that have produced promising initial results, or that they simply sound smart on paper, the story will be familiar.
VanMoof began 14 years ago with a “mission,” in the words of Taco Carlier, “to get as many other people to bike the streets of New York, Paris, London and Tokyo as we have in our hometown of Amsterdam. “It has raised, according to PitchBook data, just over $225 million from investors including Balderton, Norwest Venture Partners, Felix Capital and Hillhouse Capital Management in China. The company has never communicated its valuation.
Most of that came in a $128 million cycle in September 2021, of the wave of large investment investors targeting companies that felt at the right time in light of the COVID-19 pandemic.
For tech investors, VanMoof represented Europe’s leading startup in the massive push toward more effective shipments in cities, greener opportunities for cars, and, after the emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, tactics to attract foreigners to public shipping, a move that municipalities have also supported with increased road networks and motorcycle lanes.
As one cyclist described it, “It’s a beloved motorcycle for other people who have cash and may not know much about motorcycles. “
VanMoof, with its built-in design with smart keys like motorcycle tracking and app assistant, and e-commerce interface, was the startup and boasted of being “the most well-funded electric motorcycle company in the world. “to give regular motorcycles an electrifying touch (like Swytch). And then all the established motorcycle brands (Trek, Specialized and Giant, for example) started electrifying the models.
So far, VanMouf’s approach has been very verticalized: it has designed the motorcycle itself, as well as the integrated application that controls it. It has also refrained from using ready-to-use parts in motorcycle structure, a very common facet of motorcycle production and repair in general, opting instead to work with suppliers to manufacture traditional parts.
This turned out to be an incredibly complicated approach. Dutch financial publication FD noted in January that accounts showed VanMoof was wasting money on each of its beloved motorcycles, due to the cost of repairs. Owners may simply not repair motorcycles themselves and therefore had to send them to VanMoof repair centers for repair. Those under warranty would charge the company cash for the service, for the song of 8 million euros ($8. 92 million) in 2021.
Their motorcycles come with a one-year warranty, so some new owners were dissatisfied enough to return them at the time. FD reported that one in 10 people was fired.
Objectively, even if VanMoof manages to triumph over its existing problems, it will have missed the very important sales season of the summer cycle. While the company is keeping quiet for now, the market will be looking for strength in its plans and financing, but the headwinds in this race could become too strong to continue.