E-Bike Firm URTOPIA Secures Nearly $10M in Pre-A Financing
E-Bike brand URTOPIA announced on Friday that it has completed a Pre-A round of financing with a total amount of nearly $10 million, jointly led by Lightspeed China Partners and DCM, with Obsidian Capital serving as the exclusive financial adviser. This round of funds will be used for market expansion, technological research and development and talent attraction.
Zhang Bo, CEO of URTOPIA, said: “URTOPIA is an emerging technology brand. We hope to help users return to the outdoors with innovative products in the post-pandemic era.”
The company was founded in 2021. In terms of brand building, the company advocates “Inspire Passion, Activate Life.” The company believes e-bikes are expected to become the most popular next-generation means of transportation as low-carbon lifestyles become more and more accepted by mainstream society around the world.
The body of the firm’s e-bike is made of carbon fiber, and the weight of the whole vehicle is only 13.5 kg. Industrial designers have hidden 350Wh batteries in the bikes and loaded them with 250W hub motors, which can be charged for 2.5 hours and last for 100km.
Users can unlock the e-bikes by placing their fingerprint on the right handlebar button. The control button is on the left side of the smart handle, allowing the user to press the up and down buttons to adjust the speed, gear and riding mode, and press the left and right buttons to turn on the ground turn signal belt when it gets dark. For times when there are obstacles behind the e-bikes, they are equipped with millimeter wave radar, which sends out a vibration through the handlebar to alert users.
In terms of software, the company has self-developed an intelligent speech recognition and data interconnection system between vehicles, clouds and an app. The company also has some careful designs for user experience, such as remote unlocking, vehicle navigation, voice control, intelligent torque compensation, motion data sharing, carbon footprint tracking and so on.
In the past three years, the global e-bike market has grown significantly, exceeding $25 billion in 2020. On the one hand, thanks to the global promotion of greener policies, e-bikes have gained more attention and support. The updating of relevant national standards in China is promoting the development of the e-bike industry towards standardization, lightweight design and intelligence.
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On the other hand, the COVID-19 pandemic has made people pay more attention to their own health and exercise. E-bikes are similar to traditional bicycles in their basic structure, but they can meet the needs of medium and long-distance travel with power system assistance. They have both commuting and sports attributes, and their experience is significantly better than that of traditional bicycles.
