Belgian connected bike company Cowboy raises $80 million

The Belgian start-up Cowboy announced on Thursday January 27 that it had raised $80 million to accelerate the sale of its connected electric bicycles in the United States and the development of new products.

This new capital injection brings the total financing of the start-up to 120 million dollars in five years.

Its main competitor in this promising market for connected bicycles, the Dutch VanMoof, has raised $182 million in just a few years.

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Cowboy's new funding round was led by its shareholders Exor (holding of the Agnelli family, owner of Ferrari), the Parisian fund Hardware Club, and the American fund Siam.

Cowboy also benefits from contributions from Tiger Global, Index Ventures, Eothen, Isomer Opportunities Fund, Future Positive Capital and Triple Point Capital.

The young company of around 100 employees launched its latest model, the Cowboy 4, in May 2021, and is due to deliver its first bikes to the United States in the coming weeks.

An expansion to Europe

"This funding round will help us to accelerate the production of Cowboy 4 and to develop new products

," Cowboy boss Adrien Roose told AFP.

,” as parts shortages are holding back global bicycle production, he said.

In addition to the fourth version of its bike, Cowboy also launched a subscription service in 2021, providing on-demand repairs and maintenance at home.

To do this, the start-up has created teams of technicians in 22 European cities, including Paris.

In addition to this service, the company owns the Circular platform, where it sells refurbished bicycles.

Cowboy buys old models from its customers, refurbishes them and sells them online with a manufacturer's warranty.

After a first store in Brussels, the company will open new stores in Berlin in February and another in Paris in May, before continuing in other European cities.