Dance: The invite-only e-bike subscription service founded by SoundCloud founders raises €15M

E-bikes are becoming increasingly popular, and there is little to no evidence to suggest this growth will slow in the recent future. As Europeans are adapting to the ‘new normal’ post-COVID-19 pandemic, e-bikes are likely to play a crucial role in everyone’s future. 

According to the report, one in five people in Europe is likely to buy/use an e-bike. Another report from CONEBI, ECF’s partners in the bicycle industry, says more than 3M e-bikes were sold in 2019, a substantial increase of 23% compared to the previous year. In the UK, sales of e-bikes have boomed as travel restrictions encouraged commuters to seek alternative transport methods with some retailers seeing a 230% increase in demand over the summer.

Addressing much-needed concerns

Across the EU, more than 2300km of bike lanes have been put into place since the start of the pandemic with the UK alone pledging £250M in investment. However, the cost of e-bikes remains to be the biggest impediment to their further uptake by far. Based out of London, Dance is hoping to address those concerns. 

Secured €15M Series A funding

A few months back, founders of SoundCloud Eric Quidenus-Wahlforss and Alexander Ljung, together with the co-founder of Jimdo, Christian Springub, launched ‘DANCE,’ a new e-bike service to capitalise on the e-bike boom through the Netflix-like subscription model. 

The e-bike startup recently secured €15M Series A funding led by VC HV Holtzbrinck Ventures. With this funding, DANCE aims to offer its all-inclusive service subscription package into expanded markets across Europe and the US. 

Invite-only pilot

According to the founders, DANCE is an e-bike subscription service founded with the purpose of positively impacting health, sustainability, and livable cities. “We set out to create a frictionless e-bike subscription service with no upfront costs and all-inclusive services.” In case of repair or theft, the e-bike will be replaced immediately, claims the company.

Right now, DANCE is currently operating the invite-only pilot of its e-bike subscription in Berlin, with plans for a broader launch, expanded accessibility & availability, and new cities next year. Customers interested can sign up, after which they will be invited to subscribe for an introductory price of €59 per month. However, the specifications of the ebike have not been mentioned on the company’s website. 

Post subscription, users will get a fully assembled e-bike delivered to your door within 24 hours. It’s worth mentioning here that as part of its all-inclusive services, maintenance and theft replacement insurance is also included. With the Dance app, users can track, share, and control your bike when not riding.  

Investors

DANCE is backed by venture capital funds HV Holtzbrinck Ventures and BlueYard together with entrepreneurs and investors such as Ilkka Paananen (Founder & CEO Supercell), Jeannette zu Fürstenberg (La Famiglia), Kevin P. Ryan (Founder & CEO, AlleyCorp), Neil Parikh (Founder & CSO Casper), Bjarke Ingels (Founder & CEO BIG Architects) and several others.

Main image credits: DANCE