London-based e-bike insurer Laka has raised almost $8 million in new funding and acquired French e-bike insurance competitor, Cylantro, as part of plans to expand beyond insurance into a platform focused on the green mobility transition.
It is poised to leverage its existing knowledge and expertise within the enthusiast cycling industry while marking the initiation of a new phase as the company ventures into the realm of climate tech.
Laka’s innovative collective-driven insurance model means cyclists do not pay an upfront premium. Instead, each month’s claims are divided amongst a collective of cyclists. The company says that under this model cyclists only pay for what they need.
CEO and Co-founder of Laka Tobias Taupitz told Zag Daily: “It is a challenging environment, but we’re fortunate to be in a healthy position as a business – growing into a position of market leadership in Europe, with a happy customer base.
“The focus has noticeably changed towards building a sustainable, durable business which formed a key part of the conversations with investors. It’s also important to note that regardless of macro-trends in mobility, e-bikes remain hot – with sales expected to overtake car sales by 2025, so that’s been a big opportunity area for us.”
Taupitz said that the acquisition of Cylantro was driven by the opportunity to gain a stronger foothold in the French market.
The mobility impact VC Shift4Good joins Autotech Ventures, Porsche Ventures, Ponooc, ABN AMRO Ventures, Creandum, 1818 Venture Capital and Elkstone in Laka’s latest round of funding.
“We decided to take a different approach and hyper-targeted investors that might be a good fit from an investment perspective and avoided a shiny pitch deck in favour of a detailed Investor Memo that we wrote ourselves. You can’t A/B test these things but we feel that this approach had a positive impact.
“We’re also fortunate to have a strong base of existing investors, which brought with it a fantastic network effect. We’re excited about the next phase of Laka – where we build out our climate credentials, working hand in hand with Shift4Good who joined as our newest investor, leading this round.”
Laka is currently operating in the UK, France, Belgium, the Netherlands and Germany, and is targeting Austria and Denmark next.
