Cyclo Technology

Location,City : United Kingdom / London

Max Target : £ 350000

Equity on offer : 15 %

Industry :
Products & inventions

Investment Round :
Seed

Stage :
MVP

Website : Visit

Posted By : Josh Cohen Connect

Summary

We're in the midst of a mobility revolution. We exist to create innovations that make sustainable travel simpler & safer for everyone. Our launch product is the worlds first truly packable helmet made from recycled ocean plastic, that fits in your bag and won't cost the earth.

Notable Achievements

  • Successful crowdfunding campaign, pre-selling 1000 units to 60+ countries
  • Signed partnership agreement with pan-European hire providers Hive
  • Already secured 185k in funding
  • Won a grant from Innovate UK
  • Coverage from major news outlets

Pitch Video

https://vimeo.com/429326002

The Business

Two-wheeled urban transport is growing rapidly across the world. Deloitte forecast 40m new urban riders by 2022 in a sector that will be valued at £350bn by 2030. But the rise of the bike, e-bike and e-scooter comes with significant safety considerations.

Studies repeatedly find safety is the number one barrier to cycling, with further research confirming riders are disproportionately at risk.

Helmets are integral to resolving this challenge and can reduce likelihood of brain injury by 88%. But they're not designed with portability in mind. This is a challenge for commuters and hire scheme users. One UK-study found 92% of renters don't wear a helmet, 82% because they're bulky to carry.

There is clear demand for an innovation that supports safety alongside flexibility.

We have developed a helmet unlike any other. Founded on our unique patented 'flip-clip' mechanism, it transforms from the normal three-quarter sphere into a 'frisbee' that can pack simply into a bag.

Our vision is for a product that supports the environment. 88% of consumers say they want brands to help them make a difference. That's why ours will be made from recycled ocean plastic.

The Market

The Product

Even before Covid-19, urban micro-mobility was exploding. In January, Deloitte forecast 40m new users of 2-wheeled transport by 2022, a trend the pandemic is accelerating. But the rise of bikes/e-bikes/e-scooters comes with significant safety considerations.

We have developed a product unlike any other. Founded on a lightweight, protective honeycomb structure and revolutionary, patented 'flip-clip' mechanism, it transforms from a three-quarter-sphere into a 'frisbee' that packs into a bag.

Our vision is for a product that safeguards the environment, so our innovation will be the first-ever manufactured from recycled ocean plastic. This supports the circular economy and appeals to consumers - 88% want brands to help them make a positive environmental difference (Futerra, 2018).

The Market

We'll exploit the rapidly expanding urban micro-mobility market (bikes/e-bikes/e-scooters) and on-going growth within the cycling Parts, Accessories and Clothing (PAC's) segment, a key category of which is helmets.

Micro-mobility

Cycling (value £34.4bn /6% CAGR to 2025), E-bikes (6.4% CAGR to 2024), E-scooters (8.5% CAGR to 2025).
Cycle hire - In 2005 17 cities had hire schemes, by 2018 there were 1600 (Shared-Use Mobility Center, 2018).
Changes in legislation, e.g. post-Covid plans to boost micro-mobility, present significant growth opportunities. McKinsey (2020) predict the global micro-mobility market will be worth £350bn+ by 2030.

PAC's

PAC's (Value £3bn/3.8% CAGR to 2024).
Helmets (Value £670m/25m unit sales in 2018/5.35% CAGR to 2024).
Foldable helmets (Value £25.3m/217,422 units in 2019).
To calculate our Serviceable Attainable Market, we have considered urban populations in key territories (US, Europe and Asia), foldable segment growth driven by reducing prices, rising helmet usage among shared micro-mobility users and securing s share of the non-foldable helmet market. We calculate (even before Covid-19-related behaviour change) our SAM is 2m consumers, rising to 2.7m (CAGR 6%) by Year 5 post-launch.

Route to market
Two-thirds of consumers expect direct connections with brands (Forrester, 2018). Statista (2019) shows e-commerce, as a percentage of sales, doubled 2015-19 and by 2021 it'll reach 18.1%. Based on this insight, our primary route to market will be will be Direct-to-consumer via a bespoke e-commerce platform and Amazon. We'll use performance marketing to gather/analyse data, ensuring low acquisition costs and agile consumer targeting.

Alongside this we'll grow market reach by formalising relationships with partners eager to support commercialisation. These include: Evans, Halfords (retail), Second Chance, Uvex (distribution), Deliveroo (brand-partner) and Hive, Hourbike, Oxfordshire County Council (micro-mobility).

Traction and Achievements

In late 2018 we secured an Innovate UK grant to run a human-centred design project to validate demand. Alongside a series of user-groups, we ran a UK-wide survey to 1000 respondents in 2019. 63% showed 'purchase intent' for a foldable helmet and user-group participants confirmed they'd buy a foldable helmet if the product was under £60, easy to use and 'packed' to a convenient shape. This insight was further endorsed at the 2019 London Bike Show by the 600 attendees who visited our stand to see our prototype.

We followed this initial validation by running a crowdfunding campaign on Indiegogo. This we generated £51k in pre-sales to riders in 50+ countries around the world.

During product R&D, we've been approached by and met with a wide range of potential partners (see above). Of these Uvex (£400m protective equipment specialists) is especially telling. Their in-house research highlights a significant opportunity for a well-executed, accessibly priced, foldable helmet. Discussions with all partners remain on-going.

Competition

Foldable helmets are available, using 'stack' or 'flat-pack' mechanisms and we have done detailed competitor analysis. User-led research finds they are either too costly (average price £112), too complex or remain inconvenient to carry. We've created an entirely new 'flip-clip' system, to truly satisfy consumer needs.

Growth & Futures Prospects

Following retail/e-commerce analysis, we project our Serviceable Obtainable Market will be 2.15% of SAM in Yr1 (43,000 units/£2.3m revenue), rising to 22% by Yr5 (603,000/£30.4m).

Once our production tool is built, landed unit cost will be £5-£6.50, depending on volumes. A price of £54.99 (including delivery) generates significant margins. Our detailed financial model shows Year 5 revenue of £30.4m, with £14.8m profit.

The Team

Josh Cohen - Co-Founder & CEO

Josh has established two successful innovation agencies, taking one of these to £1m turnover in Yr1. He's facilitated design-thinking workshops, ensuring users are at the heart of any project.

Dominic Cotton - Co-Founder & CMO

Dominic is a former charity CEO and BBC journalist with wide-ranging management experience, leading large-scale, complex projects. Dom is an avid cyclist and industry expert.

Georgia Wright - Head of Growth

Georgia joined Pure Scooters as their 4th employee as Head of Growth. Georgia understands the micro-mobility industry and has experience in operations, manufacturing, social and much more. Having decided to leave Pure Scooters she reached out to support us in growing Cyclo.

Will Wood - Design Engineer

Having worked for clients such as Aston Martin, Will Wood created the concept for the CYCLO:ONE. He has a shareholding in Cyclo and will develop future concepts.

Exit Strategy

We will work towards an exit by Year 5, at which point sales volumes of our launch product will have grown significantly as outlined above. Alongside this, we will have developed additional related products and built a trusted, highly valuable brand.

Our most likely exit route will be via an acquisition from a major player in the mobility sector. We have already had (very preliminary) discussions about this with a number of our potential distribution partners.

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