Winkelmans is famous as the founder of the chain of bicycle shops Fiets!, later renamed Bike Republic by the current owner Colruyt. Even after the entrepreneur Antwerp Fiets! sales, he remained passionate about bicycles, but mainly as an investor.
He became the main shareholder in Ahooga, the fashionable Brussels builder of, among other things, e-bikes that are mainly aimed at cyclists in a metropolitan environment. Ahooga, which is located in Anderlecht and has a store on Avenue Louise, is in the upper market with the British brand Brompton as its most famous competitor.
Winkelmans is now pumping an additional 900,000 euros of additional capital into Ahooga through his company Sottobosco, according to a report in the Staatsblad. The capital injection is welcome, as the continuous losses (losses of 2.3 million euros in 2023, after losses of 1.3 million euros in 2022) affect the financial strength of the company.
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According to the company, these losses are related to development and marketing costs for Ahooga’s new famous Max, which was launched this spring. These are large costs that the company does not have to incur every year. The bike maker indicated in its latest annual accounts that it could make a limited loss in 2024, and then be profitable from 2025 due to further growth.
That growth must come from Max, which Winkelmans calls a “game changer” in terms of design and functionality in the world of urban cycling. According to the company, it is easier to make a profit with the Max production series than with the old models, which create much lower profit margins and are also losing popularity.
As an electric folding bike, Max is very compact and at 19 kg (including battery) it is also very light, making it easy to carry the bike on the train or to work. But it comes with a high price tag: the base price is 3,500 euros.
2024-11-02 06:10:00
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