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Dutch e-bike maker VanMoof declared bankrupt
by Toby Sterling
July 18, 2023 5:09 PM EDT
AMSTERDAM, July 18 (Reuters) - Dutch e-bike maker VanMoof has been declared bankrupt and administrators are considering whether it can sell assets and restructure to save the business, the company said on Tuesday.
VanMoof, which raised 100 million euros ($112.56 million) to expand internationally as sales boomed during the COVID-19 pandemic, filed for protection from creditors last week.
A company statement said that a judge at the Amsterdam District Court had declared the company's Dutch operations bankrupt on July 17.
Two administrators named to oversee the company "are continuing to assess the situation at VanMoof", including whether it can sell assets, reorganise and continue to operate.
VanMoof bikes feature a sleek, simplistic design with the battery built into the frame and have become common on the streets of Amsterdam, where the company was founded in 2009.
Dutch broadcaster NOS reported that the company, which sold bikes for more than 2,000 euros ($2,250) each, suffered from high costs to maintain and repair bikes while they were under warranty. About 200,000 have been sold worldwide.
Amsterdam police on Tuesday said their telephone lines were being flooded with customers complaining of "theft" because they paid for bikes that have not been delivered or because they have bikes being repaired at the company's stores, which are now closed.
"The police cannot do anything for customers, regardless of how distressing this may be," a police statement said.
"A bankruptcy is a civil dispute and not a criminal issue."
The VanMoof statement noted that the company's international subsidiaries are not part of the bankruptcy. The company declined to comment further.
NOS reported that brothers Taco and Ties Carlier, VanMoof's founders, had thanked the company's workers in an internal email sent to its 700 employees.
"We are sad, but above all we feel proud of what we accomplished," the email was reported as saying.
($1 = 0.8890 euros)
Reporting by Toby Sterling Editing by Muralikumar Anantharaman, Louise Heavens and David Goodman
Not sure how to feel about this, on one hand there are ton of people without a job and customers who lost their bikes during repair.
On the other hand, VanMoof was like the BMW of the bicycle world, offer risen by inconsiderate arseholes.
I've always thought they were a neat idea, but at the same time, I don't know anyone (myself included) who would want their bike beholden to over-the-air firmware updates and such. >.<
I have to admit I don't know a ton about the Vanmoof ebikes, but good ebikes in general cost at least $2000, so they weren't really that far off. The difference between a rear hub motor rad power or something like that and a midmount motored trek or specialized is massive. I'm guessing Vanmoof was on that end of the spectrum.
I'm glad this range of choices exist because a wanker on a Vanmoof is better than a wanker in a Bimmer. I'm a little surprised by the hate here.
The only reason to hate on vanmoof is the proprietary stuff and lack of protection in case what is precisely happening now happened. But other than that like you said much better they're on a vanmoof than in a BMW. Also since people being snarky about people being too lazy to pedal but electric bikes bring you much closer to a scooter to in terms of usability than a bike, so not sure what the beef is about there. I never owned one because they'd have been a luxury for me and not replacing other modes of transport but I think they're neat.