They hope to find another party willing to continue VanMoof’s business, the company said in a statement.
VanMoof was forced to close its stores last week and apply for a deferment of payment. At the branches in Amsterdam and Rotterdam, for example, customers found themselves in front of a closed door, while in some cases they still had a bicycle inside. The brand has its own stores in twenty cities worldwide. The business units outside the Netherlands are not included in the bankruptcy.
Brothers Taco and Ties Carlier founded the company in 2009 to make “the perfect city bike”. This mainly attracted attention due to its minimalist design. The company initially seemed successful, but according to the latest known figures, the company has now lost tens of millions of euros. In an internal email to staff, quoted by various media, the founders write that they are saddened by the bankruptcy, but proud of what they have achieved in recent years.
The trustees still have to investigate the specific circumstances of the bankruptcy. But it is known that large investments were required for all the special parts developed for VanMoof. The company also faced higher-than-expected costs for repairs under the warranty scheme and a lot of money was spent on international growth.
The company always financed all this with newly raised capital and loans from venture capitalists. VanMoof itself had doubts earlier this year whether it could continue on that path for long. The board warned that it was by no means certain that there would be enough new capital injections to keep the company afloat. There were also many complaints on social media about long waiting times for repairs of malfunctioning bicycles. Since VanMoof was founded, a total of 190,000 bicycles of the brand have been sold worldwide.
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2023-07-18 07:19:25
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