E-bike subscription service DANCE raises €15 million in Series A funding

E-bike subscription service DANCE has closed a €15 million Series A funding round.

Led by Eric Quidenus-Wahlforss, Alexander Ljung and Christian Springub, DANCE is aiming to offer its all-inclusive service subscription package into expanded markets across Europe and eventually the US.

“The goal of DANCE is to spark a global movement built on a connected community of passionate e-bike riders, ultimately making cities more bike-friendly and livable,” said Eric Quidenus-Wahlforss, co-founder and CEO of DANCE. “We’ve become inundated with positive responses from around the world since we announced our invite-only pilot programme, and it’s become crystal clear just how much desire, demand and excitement there is for a service like DANCE across the world.”

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. Across the EU, Governments and politicians are also reacting to the demand – more than 2,300 kilometres of bike lanes have been put into place.

“In densely populated cities and other urban areas, owning a car shouldn’t be an option especially since cleaner, greener and bike-friendly public infrastructure is increasingly expanding,” added Quidenus-Wahlforss. “These areas are expensive and congested with commuter traffic. DANCE is a holistic solution built for the person interested in saving time, the environment and staying healthy.”

DANCE’s subscription model includes a fully assembled e-bike delivered to your door within 24 hours. As part of its all-inclusive services, maintenance and theft replacement insurance are included. Its app offers concierge services, GPS location tracking and unlocking capabilities.

“The mobility market is seeing a huge shift towards bikes, strongly fueled by the paradigm shift of vehicles going electric. Unfortunately, the majority of e-bikes on the market today have some combination of poor design, high upfront costs and cumbersome maintenance,” said Rainer Märkle, general partner at HV Holtzbrinck Ventures.

“We analysed the overall mobility market, evaluated all means of transport, and crunched the numbers on all types of business models for a few years before we found what we were looking for. DANCE is by the far the most viable future of biking, bridging the gap between e-bike ownership and more joyful accessibility to go places.”

DANCE is currently operating the invite-only pilot of its e-bike subscription in Berlin, with plans for a broader launch, expanded accessibility and availability and new cities next year. For more information and to request an invite, visit https://dance.co/.

Read the October issue of BikeBiz below: