Laka acquires French e-bike insurance broker Cylantro

Laka, the European cycle insurance provider, has acquired Cylantro, a French e-bike insurance broker.

The acquisition of Cylantro accelerates the brand’s expansion to France through an established customer base and strong partnerships. This adds well to Laka’s existing partnership with leading sports retailer Decathlon in the country.

Cylantro’s CEO and founder Thomas Arnou has joined Laka to lead in France.

Arnou commented: “Cylantro was in the unique position of having a lot of acquisition interest and, therefore, able to get a clear vision of the competitor landscape. We chose to join forces with Laka because of their aligned core principles – customer first and best-in-class claims handling. We’re ready to build the European leader together.”

Laka has also announced its latest funding round to build upon its leadership of the Green Mobility category.

This equity and debt round of €7.6m, was led by impact investor Shift4Good alongside existing investors Autotech Ventures, Porsche Ventures, Ponooc, ABN AMRO Ventures, Creandum, 1818 Ventures & Elkstone Partners. Previous angel investors include Zwift CEO and co-founder, Eric Min.

The capital will be used to amplify Laka’s efforts to enable more customers to transition onto more environmentally friendly modes of transport.

Read more: See.Sense appoints Craig Brew as business development manager

Tobias Taupitz, CEO and co-founder of Laka, said: “We’re excited to welcome onboard the Cylantro team to Laka. Thomas and his team have built up a fantastic offering in France, and we can’t wait to ramp up our presence across the country. E-bikes are expected to outgrow car sales by 2025 in Europe and we see huge potential in France, where the sales of bikes and e-bikes are growing at double-digits.

“We are also excited to welcome Shift4Good as an investor, and we look forward to working with them to expand our commitments to decarbonising mobility, by making it easier for consumers to insure and protect their bikes or e-bikes.”