Circularity Capital invests in Bike Club

Circularity Capital has continued to build its portfolio of European growth stage businesses enabling the circular economy, by leading a £16.75 million growth capital round in children’s cycle subscription service Bike Club.

Founded in 2016 by James Symes and Alexandra Rico-Lloyd, Bike Club is revolutionising the cycle industry by offering families the chance to subscribe to new or refurbished bikes and scooters online and exchange them as their child grows. Already the largest bike subscription scheme in the UK, the business has ambitions to expand into Germany and France within the next 24 months.

Outgrowing the fleets of Lime, Uber and Santander Cycles, the easy-to-manage monthly subscription program (which costs between £4.49 and £15.99 per month) already operates a fleet of more than 40,000 bicycles. The capital injection will help the business to grow its user base substantially in the coming years.

Through its transformational access-over-ownership rental approach, Bike Club enables the use of children’s bicycles across multiple lifecycles, through subscription and refurbishment. Alongside prolonging the average lifetime of each model, the subscription service keeps waste out of landfill and displaces virgin manufacturing.

Circularity Capital will play an active role in supporting the Bike Club management team as the company accelerates its European growth. Investment team members David Mowat and Arjune Shukla have joined the Board.

Commenting on the investment, David Mowat said: “The access over ownership rental movement is a major societal shift that capitalises on growing consumer demand for affordability and sustainability. When it comes to the cycle industry, subscription models will help to transform purchase behaviours – transitioning the sector towards a more circular economy by keeping waste out of landfill and valuable materials in circulation.

“As the latest addition to our growing portfolio, we’re looking forward to supporting the Bike Club management team as the company continues to build its pan-European footprint. The company is making great strides in disrupting today’s linear ‘take-make-dispose’ model of cycle ownership through a truly innovative approach.”

James Symes, founder of Bike Club, added: “The pandemic, together with the growing trend for health and wellbeing, has spurred a significant uptick in family cycling and demand continues to be at its highest level in decades. Bike Club is on a mission to disrupt family cycling, meaning you never need to buy a kids bike again.  We’ve seen traction across the country with different families using us to get outdoors and enjoy a healthier, more active lifestyle.

“Getting your family cycling is a massive hassle and often quite wasteful.  With our unique subscriptions we take away the pain of getting the right quality bike and make giving your child the best sustainable gift.  Kids grow fast and at different times, it makes no sense spending £300 plus on a bike, joining Bike Club is the solution.”

The Bike Club investment is made from Circularity Capital’s €215m Circularity European Growth Fund II (CEGF), the largest specialist circular economy fund of its kind globally. Having supported other successful product-as-a-service businesses – such as recent unicorn Grover – Circularity Capital is the domain expert in circular business models, with significant experience helping management teams to achieve their full financial and impact growth potential.

For more information about Bike Club, visit www.bikeclub.com. To find out more about Circularity Capital, visit www.circularitycapital.com.   

ENDS