Amsterdam’s BAQME bags €1.3M via crowdfunding to expand rider base, launch e-cargo bike subscription service

Amsterdam-based BAQME, a shared electric cargo bikes startup, announced on Tuesday that it has raised €1.3M in a Seed round through crowdfunding. The company also announced that it has acquired a new lease facility for purchasing e-cargo bikes.

High Rise Ventures and a number of angel investors supported the equity crowdfunding round, with a sizable contribution coming from BAQME riders. The campaign was completed on Crowdcube. The lease facility has been provided by Terberg Business Mobility as BAQME continues its expansion strategy.

This campaign comes after BAQME’s debt crowdfunding effort, which set records by reaching the maximum of €400K in just 35 minutes after going online. Investors from over 20+ countries eagerly jumped at the chance to buy BAQME shares. That campaign was completed on Oneplanetcrowd.

Founder of BAQME, Souren Arakelian, says, “We are extremely humbled by the support of so many wonderful investors. After completing two successful crowdfunding campaigns, we now have a clear path for raising responsible capital to grow BAQME. The confidence from our investors gives us the energy to continue our mission of making e-cargo bikes accessible to everyone.”

Capital utilisation

BAQME says it will use the funds to expand its rider base and launch its e-cargo bike subscription service.

BAQME anticipates a 50,000 increase in its rider base next year. The number of users on its platform has more than doubled so far this year. With the latest funds, the company now focuses on its marketing efforts beyond its current rider demographics, targeting students and young professionals as well.

The company also expects that a countrywide helmet requirement for e-mopeds that goes into effect on January 1, 2023, would encourage more individuals to adopt e-cargo bikes as their primary mode of transportation.

After seeing a sharp increase in ridership, BAQME says it will also add hundreds of e-cargo bikes around Rotterdam, The Hague, and Ghent. With this expansion, Rotterdam will receive the largest fleet of shared e-cargo bikes globally.

A shared e-cargo bike platform

BAQME was founded during the Covid-19 pandemic in August, 2020, by Souren Arakelian and Sven Velthuis. Berenice van Gessel later joined as a co-founder and investor. Through its app, users can find and use an electric shared cargo bike at any time. The company started in Rotterdam and expanded to The Hague and Ghent, and will shortly include Eindhoven.

The e-cargo bikes can be used to transport groceries, luggage, or personal belongings, and they also have two seat belts for two little children. They are also widely used by students or young professionals in place of scooters. Additionally, businesses are willing to adopt the e-cargo bike as a service offered by BAQME.

Since its inception in 2021, the company claims to have facilitated more than 60,000 journeys with just under 30,000 app downloads and currently has 400 moving electric cargo bikes in the Netherlands and Belgium.