CAKE, a younger Swedish firm making high-end electrical bikes, has filed for chapter, based on a number of information reviews. The corporate, already struggling financially, confronted a sudden shortfall this 12 months after some traders pulled out shortly earlier than a funding spherical. That led CAKE’s house owners to file for chapter on February 1, reported Swedish publications Dagens Industri, Breakit, and Aftonbladet.
“It isn’t one however a number of circumstances which have brought about us to finish up on this state of affairs,” CAKE CEO Stefan Ytterborn instructed Dagens Industri. “Local weather points are now not in focus; we’re in a recession. It’s about us, however it’s additionally in regards to the enterprise capital ecosystem. In the mean time it’s utterly lifeless, there aren’t any takers within the later section CAKE is in.”
With their toy-like look and all-electric motors, CAKE’s bikes generated loads of buzz in only a few brief years. An instance is a advertising scheme, “Electrical Conquest of Continents,” with skilled riders utilizing CAKE bikes to cross Africa and North America. The corporate additionally labored with GoalZero to develop stealthy “bush bikes” to assist rangers combat the poaching of African wildlife.
CAKE additionally designed motorbikes particularly for supply professionals and even tried to enterprise into the e-scooter market.
In GearJunkie’s evaluate of the Kalk OR, bike editor Seiji Ishii took the off-road bike for a check trip, calling it “insanely enjoyable.” However with a price ticket of $13,000, he additionally had problem reconciling the worth to conventional fuel dust bikes, which have extra true dust functionality and vary.
“So who’s the Kalk OR for? It’s for me — if I had extra disposable revenue,” Ishii wrote.
Different potential patrons could have felt the identical hesitation. Since its founding in 2016, the corporate has solely bought about 6,000 bikes, Breakit reported. The Swedish publication additionally reported final month that CAKE’s staff would have their salaries delayed as a result of the corporate lacked sufficient funds to pay them.
It’s additionally in a doubtlessly difficult state of affairs with traders, as CAKE reportedly has six various kinds of shares, granting some house owners better rights than others. Ytterborn instructed Dagens Industri (DI) that that has made issues tough.
“As not too long ago as yesterday, I assumed we have been on the end line,” he instructed DI. “However on the final second, particular dedicated actors have chosen to drop out.”
CAKE didn’t return requests for touch upon Friday.
