VELOTRIC, a new force in the field of electric bicycles, recently announced that it completed a round A financing of RMB 50 million. The funds raised will be primarily used to expand the company's presence in the U.S. market, breaking the industry tradition of e-bike brands focusing on the European market.
On February 23, VELOTRIC, a company in the field of electric bicycles, recently completed a round A financing of RMB 50 million (USD 7 million). This round of financing was invested by Fosun Ruizheng Capital (Chinese: 复星锐正) and Redpoint Ventures China (Chinese: 红点中国), where Thriving Capital (Chinese: 元启资本) served as the exclusive financial advisor. The latest round of financing brings VELOTRIC’s total financing to more than RMB 70 million.
VELOTRIC was jointly founded by Zhang Xi, hardware co-founder of Lime, the largest two-wheel electric sharing platform in Europe and the United States, Xiao Xiaotao, Lime’s hardware research and development director, and Sun Zhen, industrial design director of Didi Group. The core members of the team come from Lime, Didi, Giant, Decathlon, etc., with prior experience in manufacturing more than one million electric two-wheelers.
VELOTRIC focuses on the fastest growing entry-level product market, striving to bring the price of high quality products down to a level that is accessible to every user. This philosophy has enabled VELOTRIC to achieve a platform effect for multi-product development and production by creating a reusable vehicle platform to reduce the overall cost of the products, and provide users with the best value.
Zhang Xi mentioned, "There are three major e-bike markets in the world: China, Europe and North America, among which the Chinese and European markets are already relatively mature with high e-bike penetration rates, while the North American market currently has the lowest penetration rate. Yet the North American market is in a rapid development stage. Therefore, VELOTRIC seized the opportunity and chose to focus on North America as an emerging market."
As one of the leading investors, Fosun Ruizheng Capital said, "Fosun Ruizheng Capital is impressed by VELOTRIC's fast growth and we look forward to growing with VELOTRIC. VELOTRIC's commitment to providing high quality, affordable e-bikes is unique in the market. Their focus on safety and reliability is unparalleled. We believe this investment will help VELOTRIC achieve their goals, and continue to have a positive impact on the e-bike industry."