A group of sufficiently excellent companies stepped on the wind outlet, rose on the upside, and took off with the trend......
Whether it is a player in the traditional bicycle industry in China or an executive of a large factory, they have started the E-BIKE business.
What exactly is an e-bike?
The full name of E-BIKE is Electric bicycle, which uses a motor and battery as auxiliary power, and is equipped with an intelligent sensor system to provide power assistance according to the size of the rider's pedaling force, realizing the integration of manpower riding and motor assistance. To a certain extent, we can simply and crudely understand E-BIKE as an upgraded version of a traditional bicycle.
In the past two years, the E-BIKE track has exploded, and it has continued to run out of excellent players, and capital institutions such as Gaoling have also begun to invest heavily in this industry, feeding back the popularity of E-BIKE year by year.
From January to February this year, the export sales of Jiahong's electric-assisted bicycles reached 10 million US dollars, an increase of 15% over the same period last year. The company's own brand Aventon E-BIKE has increased its market share in North America to about 25%, and sales in Maryland, Michigan and Virginia have increased tenfold.
In January this year, the electric bicycle brand TENWAYS completed 300 million yuan in financing, which is the fifth round of financing obtained by the brand since its establishment, and the capital behind it not only includes L Catterton, Hillhouse, Huaying, Zhongding and other well-known institutions, but also Tencent and other Internet manufacturers.
At the same time, the electric bicycle Big Fish Zhixing also announced the completion of a 100 million yuan Series A financing in 2024......
The export sales Taotao Bicycle Industry, Jihong Shares, Jiuqi Shares, Saiwei Times, etc., which have successfully completed the listing, have already laid out the E-BIKE track and relied on related brands to achieve soaring performance.
According to Markets and Markets data, the global e-bike market size was $49.7 billion in 2022 and is expected to reach $80.6 billion in 2027, growing at a CAGR of 10% from 2022 to 2027.
Competing for a market of nearly 100 billion US dollars, cross-border e-commerce has become a new wealth creation field, using independent stations as the carrier to promote brands, and using social media to build momentum for products, which has become the main posture for players from all walks of life to enter the E-BIKE market. However, the more unfamiliar overseas users and the increasingly crowded E-BIKE track are bringing a lot of challenges to the insiders, and the fact that models such as Big Fish Zhixing and Aventon are in front does not mean that E-BIKE is a blue ocean for everyone, and they are trying to find their own competitive advantages in the new competitive landscape, and there are still a group of people who expect to successfully go ashore.
Aiming at the mid-to-high-end segment!Aventon entered the first echelon of North American E-BIKE
"Our orders have been scheduled for May this year, and the supply of products is in short supply. About two months ago, the person in charge of Aventon expressed his feelings.
Today, Aventon is a hot mess in the North American market, and has rushed to the No. 1 market share in the North American e-bike industry. Currently, the Aventon has five main product models, including the commuter Commuter, the off-road vehicle, the fat tire car, the folding car and the cargo cargo. The company's new electric-assisted bicycles have been widely popular in New York, Seattle, Michigan and other cities, and the first batch of more than 1,000 new cars was sold out in less than a week after it was launched. In the mid-to-high-end segment of electric assisted bicycles in North America, Aventon has entered the first echelon.
After several years of going overseas, Aventon has achieved a series of excellent results, such as Google engine search "eBike" electric bicycle, Aventon ranked first, won the North American Best Bicycle Award for three consecutive years, Forbes and other authoritative media have commented: "Aventon brand is the best commuter bike ever ridden", "Aventon is leading the change of electric vehicles".
In terms of sales channels, in the field of cross-border e-commerce, Aventon mainly promotes brands through its own official website, but it has also begun to get involved in third-party cross-border e-commerce platforms, and will enter Amazon's Canadian site in 2022. Looking at the traffic of its independent station, it can be found that the data is excellent, with the overall number of visits as high as 7.5 million in 2022, rising to more than 8 million in 2023, and nearly 2 million in the first three months of 2024. Facebook and YouTube are the main sources of traffic to the Aventon brand's official website, and with the rise of TikTok, the brand is also focusing on marketing on this channel, often inviting influencers to share cycling vlogs.
In addition, the brand has also cooperated well with internationally renowned companies, and has entered the Best Buy counter, the world's largest electrical and electronic distributor.
As early as 2022, capital took a fancy to Aventon's huge development potential, and top investment institutions have increased their bets.
In March 2022, Aventon announced the completion of a first-round financing of tens of millions of dollars, which was exclusively invested by Gaorong Capital, with Ming Theory Capital as the exclusive financial advisor. In November of the same year, it received another investment from Sequoia Capital (China), which was valued at $590 million, according to people familiar with the matter.
Zhejiang Jiahong, the company behind Aventon, has a lot of backgrounds. The founder, Zhang Jianwei, was born in Yongkang, Zhejiang, which is an important town in China's bicycle industry chain and has the title of China's hardware industry manufacturing capital. In the industrial belt, it was natural for Zhang Jianwei to set his sights on the bicycle track at the beginning, and through cross-border e-commerce sales, offline marketing and promotion, Aventon-related products continued to sell well.
Aventon was keenly aware of the new changes that began to take place on the bike track, and joined the ranks of developing E-bikes in 2017, but the company's real transformation into the E-BIKE track was an inevitable choice catalyzed by the epidemic.
In March 2020, the pandemic began to sweep the world, with major disruptions to the bicycle supply chain, accompanied by a surge in online consumption, and in June 2020, sales of Aventon e-bikes increased by 600%.
"Orders increased tenfold overnight, and we could get 300 calls a day...... Aventon revealed that in 2020, the company decided to bet on the E-BIKE, and then started a smooth sailing path.
Over the past years of experience in bicycle entrepreneurship, the domestic excellent bicycle supply chain resources have turned into a source of power for the continuous progress of the enterprise.
In recent years, Aventon's revenue performance has been in a state of rapid growth, and sales growth in Maryland, Michigan and Virginia in the United States has even reached more than 1,000%. Forecast data shows that Aventon's turnover in 2019 will be around $10 million. In 2020, 50,000 units were shipped, and sales directly doubled to 32 million US dollars. In 2021, shipments will double to 100,000 units, with revenue of about 1~200 million US dollars, or about 2 billion yuan. From January to February this year, the export sales of Jiahong's electric-assisted bicycles reached 10 million US dollars, an increase of 15% over the same period last year.
Financing news continues, and many companies are favored by capital
As the overseas track gradually becomes crowded, the capital is obviously more cautious, but in the face of the E-BIKE track, they still seem to be enthusiastic.
Since the beginning of this year, there have been several rounds of financing in the E-BIKE track, and the well-known Big Fish Zhixing and TENWAYS in the industry are impressively listed.
In March 2024, Shenzhen-based VELOTRIC completed equity financing, focusing on the North American market, with products including the commuter "Discover" series, the off-road "Nomad" series, and the lightweight sports "Thunder" series. VELOTRIC's founding team has a lot of backgrounds, including LIME (North American shared mobility company), Didi, Qingju Bicycle, Giant, TREK, Specialized and other well-known companies. PRIOR TO THIS FINANCING, VELOTIC COMPLETED ANGEL ROUNDS, SERIES A and A+ ROUNDS IN JULY 2022, FEBRUARY 2023 AND JUNE 2023, RESPECTIVELY.
VELOTRIC'S SALES PERFORMANCE IN THE FIELD OF CROSS-BORDER E-COMMERCE IS ALSO OUTSTANDING, WITH MORE THAN $15 MILLION IN SALES IN JUST SEVEN MONTHS AFTER IT WAS LAUNCHED IN MAY 2022.
In January 2024, Big Fish announced the completion of a 100 million RMB Series A financing, which was invested by CICC Huirong, a subsidiary of CICC Capital.
Founded in 2016 in Shenzhen, China, Dayu Zhixing focuses on the R&D and sales of intelligent lithium-ion mopeds, and has set up a R&D and operation service center in Europe. The brand positioning is high-end, focusing on lightweight and high-value, adhering to the product design concept of 'intelligence is the standard, good-looking first', and the appearance is very recognizable. It is the first Chinese E-BIKE brand to enter Costco, the largest chain membership-based warehouse and wholesaler in the United States, and has more than 100 core patents.
Like other brands, the sales promotion of Big Fish Smart in the field of cross-border e-commerce is mainly carried out through its own official website, and it is vigorously marketed through social media channels.
Now, Big Fish Zhixing has developed into a top export brand of smart lithium electric vehicles in China, and is sold in more than 60 countries around the world. Annual shipments exceeded 500,000 units, and in 2020 the number was still about 250,000 units. Among them, folding products are the main category of Big Fish Zhixing. At present, in the folding category in Europe and the United States, Big Fish Zhixing market accounts for more than 50%.
In January 2024, TENWAYS also announced its financing.
Founded in May 2021, Shifang Sports, the company behind TENWAYS, mainly focuses on the field of electric bicycle manufacturing, which can be said to be a cutting-edge brand. It is such an E-BIKE novice that has not only received investment from well-known institutions such as L Catterton, Hillhouse, Huaying, and Zhongding, but also attracted the attention of Tencent.
In the year of its establishment in 2021, TENWAYS won the Pre-A round of financing from Hillhouse Ventures, and in 2022, it received Series A financing from Zhong Ding, Huaying, Tencent, etc., and in 2023, it received 300 million yuan in Series A+ financing and hundreds of millions of yuan in Series B financing, and in January this year, it received Series B financing from Black Ant Capital and others.
TENWAYS has five e-bikes with factories, offices and warehousing in Europe, Asia and the Americas. It is mainly sold through crowdfunding, independent stations, third-party platforms and offline channels. In just one year since its establishment, the company has received more than $850,000 in IGG crowdfunding. In more than two years since its establishment, it has quickly set up a sales headquarters in the Netherlands, Europe, and laid more than 700 physical stores, while online sales have achieved remarkable results. At present, it is the fastest growing E-BIKE brand in the European market.
Rewind the clock to before 2024.
Founded in 2021, the cutting-edge brand URTOPIA focuses on the product line of e-bikes (E-bikes) and various peripheral products, which directly reach European and American users through the "DTC+BTB" model. In February 2022, it completed a Pre-A round of financing of nearly 10 million US dollars, co-led by Lightspeed China and DCM.
THIS IS JUST THE TIP OF THE ICEBERG WHEN IT COMES TO E-BIKE TRACK FINANCING. Relevant data shows that from July 2021 to March 2023, more than 20 two-wheeled electric companies have received financing in less than two years, with a total financing amount of more than 10 billion yuan.
In addition, the cross-border e-commerce big sellers that have been listed have all laid out the E-BIKE track, such as the sports equipment brand ANCHEER under Saiwei Times, SENADA BIKES under Jihong Co., Ltd., Hiland under Jiuqi Co., Ltd., Segway Xafari and Segway Xyber products under Nine Company, and Taotao Bicycle Industry.
Taotao's products cover electric scooters, electric bicycles, electric golf carts, all-terrain vehicles, etc. It was formally established in 2015 and successfully listed on the A-share market of the Shenzhen Stock Exchange on March 21, 2023. In 2022, Taotao Bicycle Industry will sell more than 16,000 electric bicycles, with a sales revenue of 78.0779 million yuan, among which Denago brand electric bicycles have won many awards and honors.
The E-BIKE track continues to be hot, the whole vehicle is warmly sought after by foreign consumers, and the riding accessories related to the vehicle have also ushered in the peak period of development, bicycle bags, glasses, pedals, and a series of bicycle parts such as handlebars, seats, lights, bells, fenders, etc., as well as brackets, locks, pumps and other bicycle accessories have risen with the wind, and many players have completed brand advancement with the help of market dividends, Lamicall and ROCKBROS are among the excellent representatives. Observation can find that many ROCKBROS products occupy the TOP5 of the Meiya BS list of their subcategories all year round.
Future development opportunities for electric bicycles: premiumization is the trend
The rise and development of E-BIKE is closely related to the broad development space of the bicycle market.
Bicycles are a popular means of transportation and have a huge user base in many countries and regions around the world. In the context of rising oil prices and energy crisis, new energy two-wheeled travel tools have become a green means of transportation encouraged by countries around the world, and many countries have also incorporated bicycles into the public transportation system to accelerate the development of public bicycle systems. IN THIS CONTEXT, EBIKE HAS BECOME ONE OF THE FASTEST-GROWING SEGMENTS, AND MARKET RESEARCH INSTITUTIONS PREDICT THAT THE GLOBAL E-BIKE TRACK MARKET SIZE WILL REACH $118.6 BILLION BY 2030. E-bikes are especially popular in the European and American markets.
In recent years, the electrification of the European bicycle market has continued to accelerate, helping the popularity of electric bicycles to increase and sales year after year, thanks to the advancement of related technologies such as electric motors and batteries and the government's subsidy scheme. It is understood that the governments of some European countries will introduce a series of subsidy measures to help electric bicycles, so as to lower the purchase threshold and stimulate consumers' willingness to buy.
ACCORDING TO DATA RELEASED BY THE EUROPEAN BICYCLE MANUFACTURERS ASSOCIATION (CIE), THE EUROPEAN BICYCLE INDUSTRY FEDERATION (CONFEDERATION) (CONFEDERATION) AND THE EUROPEAN BICYCLE FOUNDATION (ECF), FROM 2016 TO 2021, EUROPEAN EBIKE SALES INCREASED FROM 1.67 MILLION TO 5 MILLION UNITS, AND IS EXPECTED TO EXCEED 10 MILLION UNITS BY 2025. According to Bike Europe data, the sales of electric bicycles in Germany have grown at a rate of more than 30% every year in the past two years, and the Dutch electric bicycles have occupied 40% of the bicycle market share, and electric bicycles have become the main driving force for the development of the European bicycle market.
The United States is the world's largest bicycle consumer and the largest bicycle importer, and it is also the largest market for mainland bicycle exports. In the United States, bicycles are commonly used for commuting, sports and fitness, and recreation, and the main models sold in the market include mountain bikes, road bikes, off-road bikes, children's bicycles and power-assisted electric bicycles, among which the models with the highest sales value are mountain bikes.
With the improvement of people's living standards, the focus of the electric bicycle industry is changing from the traditional demand for transportation to the demand for sports, leisure, fitness, outdoor operations, etc., and there are also some new changes in the electric bicycle track.
1. The market demand for emerging high-end materials and high-end products has increased significantly. Data research shows that the global carbon fiber bicycle market will reach 14.174 billion yuan (RMB) in 2022 and will reach 18.741 billion yuan by 2028 at an annual growth rate of 4.85%. In the future, the demand for bicycles with high-end carbon fiber products will increase greatly. As a new material, carbon fiber is mainly used to make frames, forks, wheel linings (carbon cutter rims), etc. Carbon fiber material can reduce the weight of the bicycle body, and the material is strong and tough, maximizing speed and lightening the body while increasing the firmness of the body.
In the United States, Europe, Japan and other developed countries and regions, bicycle consumption has been mainly concentrated in high-end products (carbon fiber and other high-end materials), road bicycles, mountain bikes, electric bicycles as the representative of the consumption of high-end bicycles increased rapidly, accounting for the proportion of bicycle products in all categories continues to rise, taking Germany as an example, the cumulative sales proportion of high-end bicycles has reached about 70% of the overall sales of bicycles.
2. Environmental protection and green production. Globally, production processes are becoming more automated and environmentally friendly. With the continuous improvement of environmental protection supervision by local governments, the production links of wire pickling and phosphating, frame spraying and baking paint have been continuously improved and environmentally friendly materials have been used, and investment has been continuously increased in the transformation of environmental protection facilities. The entire bicycle production industry tends to be automated and environmentally friendly.
In terms of industrial structure, based on high labor costs, global bicycle production is mainly concentrated in developing countries and regions such as China, Thailand, Vietnam and Indonesia. At present, the mainland bicycle industry has a high degree of industrial agglomeration, and the country has formed three major bicycle cluster industrial belts in Tianjin, Bohai Bay, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Shanghai and the Pearl River Delta, with an industrial chain from the processing of bicycle raw materials to the production of various bicycle parts, and then to the large-scale and specialized production of bicycles.
From the perspective of the competitive landscape, the mainland bicycle industry can be divided into three levels: one is a large bicycle enterprise with abundant capital and scale advantages, these enterprises pay attention to product quality, technological innovation, and have high market awareness and brand awareness, such as Giant, Merida, etc.; Third, many small and medium-sized enterprises in the industry, due to the low level of equipment and the lack of independent innovation ability, mainly produce low-grade and low-value-added products, and rely on price competition to expand the surrounding regional markets.
Some companies are still seeking to go ashore, and a number of excellent players have occupied the high ground in the European and American markets. All kinds of signs show that the threshold of the E-BIKE track is constantly rising, and it has become the key point for all players to break through for transformation and upgrading in line with market development.