Applying Automotive Expertise to Scale Ebiking

Far too many bike shops treat two-wheelers like they’re high-end sporting equipment: sleek and expensive pieces of hardware that are meant to be stored in the closet when not out bounding trails. As electric bicycling takes off, brands are finding they need new pathways to get consumers to treat these machines like something that can replace a car: take it to work, use it to run errands, and feel confident that when something goes wrong, it’ll be easy to fix.

Dan Carr, Co-Founder and CEO of Wombi, has been working to fix that, as he first scaled his company across Australia, before taking it stateside. Sam and I have had the pleasure of knowing Dan since he first started kicking the tires on a U.S. launch, so it was with great delight that our team at MobilityVC could participate in his most recent funding round.

I sat down with Dan to discuss the his new funding for the latest episode of Zag Talk. Beyond our conversation about the collaboration, we also get into what it takes to build the financial and operational layers to offer bikes on a subscription basis, how biking compares in the U.S. versus down under, how the bike industry has recovered these past few years, and what bicycle retailers can learn from the automotive industry.

Want to learn more about Wombi, and connect with even more fantastic entrepreneurs and investors? Dan’s Co-Founder, Ben Carr, will be joining us in London on June 19th for our latest MobilityCafe. We’ve still got a few spots available — apply to attend now.