Update 27th July 2023
Knowing full well that many people are currently in a tight spot due to the bankruptcy of Vanmoof, Cowboy is now being followed by other companies that are offering help in various ways.
Already last week, the German bicycle manufacturer Diamant launched a campaign aimed at those who have ordered an ebike from Vanmoof and have already paid a deposit. Those who can credibly prove that they are in such a situation can order any Diamant ebike and receive a discount of 300 euros.
Diamant supports Vanmoof customers with a discount of 300 euros.
For the moment, the offer is only valid in Germany and Austria. The order has to be placed via the Trek website. Diamant will then deliver the ebike to any Diamant dealer in these two countries. Initially, the whole thing is limited until 21st August 2023. However, considering that the bicycle manufacturers’ warehouses are currently overflowing, an extension seems quite conceivable. Presuming that the demand is great enough.
Upway brings itself into the game as a Vanmoof expert
Anyone who already rides a Vanmoof is probably worried about where he or she can turn to in the future in case of an upcoming repair or replacement of the battery. Upway, a company from France that refurbishes used ebikes, is aimed at this clientele. In a hurry, the company has launched a special programme. From 1st September, Upway will accept ebikes from Vanmoof for maintenance. You can already register for this service beforehand. In the next few days, areas will be set up on the websites for France, Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium and the USA where you can register your bike for maintenance. It is expected that there will initially be a limited number of 500 slots in each country.
Toussaint Wattinne, Managing Director at Upway, riding a Vanmoof X3.
According to Toussaint Wattinne, one of Upway’s managing directors, some of his employees have received training on the ebike system directly from Vanmoof and can therefore get started so quickly. The service includes collection of the bike from your home, inspection, possible repair and transport back to you. All this comes in a package for a one-time fee of 89 euros. This does not include the parts that may have to be replaced in the course of a repair. However, Upway gives you the labour costs for free, which experience has shown to be the largest part of the costs, especially for smaller repairs.
Both Diamant and Upway emphasise that their respective offers were triggered by the plight of Vanmoof customers and Vanmoof drivers through no fault of their own. Both wanted the measures to support cycling in the first place. Of course, it is also true that the good intentions can generate a certain additional profit. Nevertheless, the people concerned are probably more pleased that bystanders are standing up for them. Rightly so, in our opinion.
Original post 25th July 2023
On the homepage, the world of Vanmoof is in order. The S5 and A5 presented a few weeks ago are touted as revolutionary. Worries about the safety and maintenance of one’s own ebike are unnecessary. After all, there would be the Peace-of-Mind services. And the full potential of the bicycle could be discovered with the Vanmoof app. Not a word about the revolution taking a break. Times are anything but peaceful when it comes to the service. And the app could soon say goodbye. For exactly one week, bankruptcy proceedings have been underway against the Dutch company, which liked to stage itself as a showcase project for electrified urban mobility on two wheels.
If you want to find out about this on the manufacturer’s website, you have to go to the FAQs under the menu item “Support”. After clicking on the tile, a separate tab opens up. There is indeed a block with the heading “About VanMoof’s current situation”. The situation VanMoof is currently in can be precisely defined by means of the corresponding legal provisions. How the company is basically doing is much more blurred. Those who have bought a model from the Dutch company may have discovered unpleasant details in their inboxes over the past few days. For everyone else, we summarise the key facts here.
1. What is the current status?
2. What had happened before?
3. Which parts of the company are affected by the insolvency?
4. Who is currently steering the fortunes of Vanmoof?
5. What is the status of the service of the ebikes on the streets?
6. Can the app still be used?
7. What is the future of Vanmoof?
1. What is the current status?
On 17 July 2023, the Amsterdam court opened bankruptcy proceedings against Vanmoof.
2. What had happened before?
Anyone who follows the Dutch business press closely could already read in the Financieele Dagblad in January 2023 that Vanmoof was desperately seeking fresh capital. A sum of between ten and 40 million euros was needed to secure the brand’s continued existence beyond the first quarter of 2023. According to reports from the US news portal TechCrunch, the shareholders probably did not donate nearly that much. However, it was enough to carry on for the moment.
In its own annual report for 2022, Vanmoof tells itself not to spend money that it doesn’t earn. Even then, the company asked its suppliers to defer payment so that it would retain sufficient liquid capital. On the fiscal side, there was a clear discrepancy between claim and reality. According to the Financieele Dagblad, the balance between income and expenditure showed a deficit of 78 million euros – for both 2022 and 2021.
Where are Taco Carlier (left) and Ties Carlier heading with Vanmoof in the near future?
On 29 June 2023, TechCrunch first observed that Vanmoof stopped selling its ebikes on the website. Initially, there was talk of a temporary pause. The manufacturer cited prioritised processing of older orders as the reason for the move. That this was at best only half the truth became apparent on 13 July 2023 when Vanmoof filed an application for creditor protection and suspension of payments at the court in Amsterdam. The court granted this in a first reaction. On 17 July 2023, however, it revised its decision. The suspension of payments was withdrawn and Vanmoof was declared insolvent.
3. Which parts of the company are affected by the insolvency?
The Vanmoof brand extends over several companies that belong to the Carlier Group BV. The insolvency proceedings relate to the following three of them:
- VanMoof Global Holding BV
- VanMoof BV
- VanMoof Global Support BV
At the best of times, Vanmoof was present worldwide with brand stores and certified workshops.
The CEO of each is either Taco or Ties Carlier. Explicitly excluded from the proceedings are the foreign subsidiaries Vanmoof Asia, Vanmoof Asia Ltd. Taiwan and Vanmoof USA Inc. In addition, the brand stores and certified workshops in Austria, Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Ireland, Japan, Sweden, the UK and the USA operate as independent companies. They are presumably trying to slowly move on to day-to-day business. It remains to be seen whether, and if so to what extent, this is possible while the head office in Amsterdam is set in checkmate.
Theoretically, the certified workshops can currently continue their business. In practice, this will probably be possible only to a very limited extent.
4. Who is currently steering the fortunes of Vanmoof?
Some media report that important managers have already quietly left Vanmoof. In addition to Gillian Tans, who was hired as president of the management team only last year, even Taco Carlier, the elder of the Carlier brothers, is mentioned in this regard. Unfortunately, we cannot verify to what extent these reports correspond to the facts. What is certain is that the two lawyers appointed as trustees, Jan Padberg and Robin de Wit, from the law firm Holland Van Gijzen Advocaten en Notarissen LLP, also known as HVG Law, are likely to set the tone in the near future. On their firm’s website, they advise aggrieved individuals that they would receive separate information from the trustees on how to make their claims in the bankruptcy proceedings. However, this will only happen after Vanmoof has been sold or otherwise dissolved. There are no further details from the trustees. They only advise to regularly check the FAQ on the English language website of VanMoof’s Dutch domain and look for news there.
5. What is the status of the service of the ebikes on the streets?
In a statement dated 13 July 2023, Vanmoof assures that it does everything in its power to take care of matters such as repairs or outstanding deliveries. At the same time, however, they do not already have the necessary answers to every question. It doesn’t take much imagination, however, to set those who ride a Vanmoof up for frustrating times. This is primarily due to manufacturing policies that the manufacturer has followed for years.
After all, a S3, X4 or A5 features plenty of components that are produced especially for Vanmoof. These custom-made parts were supposed to ensure exclusivity, but now turn out to be nothing but an exclusive nuisance. They cannot be replaced with parts from the standard range of world market leaders like Shimano, Sram or KMC. And if the money fails to come in, the suppliers will continue to let their machine parks stand still.
6. Can the app still be used?
More pressing than a possible motor failure or the next battery swap is the Vanmoof app. Fortunately, it is only one of a total of three options for switching the ebike on and off. However, other central functions such as locating the bike, navigation and setting the automatic shifting are completely dependent on it. According to our information, Vanmoof’s servers and thus the app are still running. At the moment, no one can say for sure how long this situation will last.
The Vanmoof app is currently up and running. How much longer is uncertain at the moment.
Vanmoof’s competitor Cowboy acted quickly and developed an app called Bikey as an alternative almost overnight. With the help of Bikey, you can access the digital key of your Vanmoof ebike and save it for future use, independent of the operation of the Vanmoof servers. For the moment, riding is thus secured, albeit in a restricted mode. In the meantime, Bikey can be found in both the App Store and the Google Play Store. However, the whole thing still seems to have a few bugs. After such a short time, however, this is not really surprising. Moreover, it probably only offers itself as a lifeline for the S3 and the S5.
By the way, the Moofer app seems to be a comparable solution. Unfortunately, we haven’t been able to test any of them yet.
7. What is the future of Vanmoof?
In the coming weeks, the trustees will do their utmost to find interested parties who are willing and able to continue Vanmoof’s business. If this does not succeed, there is the threat of a sale of the assets and the possible fragmentation of the entire company. Which scenario is more likely is hard to predict at this stage. The online portal “Bike Europe” speculates that the short time span from the granting of creditor protection to the declaration of insolvency rather points to an imminent takeover. The only really reliable information in this context seems to be the announcement of a creditors’ meeting for 21 September 2023 by the trustees.
Pictures: Vanmoof B.V.