Update, July 18th: VanMoof has officially been declared bankrupt, by a judge at the Amsterdam District Court. The e-bike start-up, which at one point was the darling of the industry and raised $112.56 million during the pandemic to expand internationally, is effectively no more.
Two administrators have been assigned to oversee the company and determine "whether it can sell assets, reorganize and continue to operate." Meanwhile, Amsterdam police have said their telephone lines are being flooded with angry customers, wondering if they'll get their bought-and-paid-for bikes that either hadn't been delivered, or were at the company's repair facilities — which are now closed.
The company released a statement to TechCrunch addressing the bankruptcy, which you can read in full below:
On 17 July 2023, the court of Amsterdam withdrew the suspension of payment proceeding of the Dutch legal entities VanMoof Global Holding B.V., VanMoof B.V. and VanMoof Global Support B.V. and declared these entities bankrupt.
The two administrators Mr. Padberg and Mr. De Wit have been appointed as trustees. The trustees are continuing to assess the situation at VanMoof and are investigating the possibilities of a re-start out of bankruptcy by means of an asset sale to a third party, so that the activities of VanMoof can be continued.
The VanMoof legal entities outside the Netherlands are not in insolvency proceedings.
There will be no further comments at this time.
July 13, 2023: VanMoof, the maker of supremely sleek and widely popular e-bikes, is close to potential collapse and on the verge of bankruptcy.
The start-up was founded in Amsterdam in 2009, with the goal of creating "the perfect city bike." Since then, the company has expanded across nine different time zones, with a workforce of 900 employees. But after a year of internal chaos and financial missteps, VanMoof is unable to pay its bills.
TechCrunch reported that VanMoof has applied to a local court for an official suspension of payment provision after running out of money — a move that comes on the heels of pausing sales, and the company's executives departing. As of this writing, VanMoof is without a public CEO; cofounder and former CEO Taco Carlier is no longer listed at this position. All this comes just months after VanMoof launched its latest series of more affordable e-bikes, the S4 and X4.
What does this mean for VanMoof bike owners?
According to The Pulse, the connection between VanMoof and its bikes is "encrypted with a key obtained from VanMoof’s servers when logging onto the mobile app." That means if the app shuts down, customers can't communicate with their key — and won't be able to use their bikes.
Most e-bikes can operate independent of the status of their parent company (as long as they're charged, that is). What set VanMoof apart from the beginning, for better or (seemingly) worse, is its ability to be controlled be a smartphone, and therefore its reliance on the company's dedicated app. If VanMoof goes under, so does that functionality. If it's sold, there's no guarantee the app will continue to function as it does now.
This news, combined with Rad Bikes recently closing its European operations, has us wondering if the e-bike bubble is finally starting to burst. But this tech issue means this particular brand's crisis might hit its customers harder than others.
While the situation is still evolving, there's hope for VanMoof riders. According to The Pulse, an online community of VanMoof fans has developed its own tool to obtain the encryption key. And Cowboy Bikes, a VanMoof competitor, has reportedly built its own app to allow VanMoof riders to save their keys.
Editor's note: A friend of GP whose dad owns a Van Moof says the Cowboy app is working for him. But the remaining time on his warranty probably won't do him any good if the bike happens to break down in the future.
With the future of VanMoof uncertain at this point, there's really only one thing left to do: go for a ride (while you can).
