The Tallinn-based Vok Bikes on 29 June announced closing a €3.8 million seed round to accelerate the expansion of startup’s electric cargo bike fleets in many parts of Europe.
The funding was received by Estonia’s SmartCap venture capital fund, Skype’s cofounder Jaan Tallinn’s Metaplanet investment firm, Nordic-Baltic venture capital fund Specialist VC, Estonian solar technology company Sunly, a list of angel investors and a €300,000 grant by Enterprise Estonia, a state-run development agency.
Vok was founded by entrepreneurs Riho Koop, Indrek Petjärv and Siim Starke – a team of former student formula engineers, who spent six years in e-mobility, building racing cars and electric scooters. The founders said it made them realise “how necessary yet insufficient current micro-mobility solutions are”.
The Tallinn-based company has a team of 30 and its electric cargo bikes are on the streets of London, Stockholm, Tallinn, Vilnius, Antwerp, Copenhagen, Geneva and Kiel. The startup said the funding will accelerate the expansion of Vok’s electric cargo bike fleets in many parts of Europe.
Vok said that as local governments strive towards carbon neutrality and implement measures like congestion charges and parking costs to promote sustainability, “companies across diverse industries, including food and parcel delivery, property management, maintenance and repair services, are increasingly adopting cargo bikes”.
“While the electric bike market is under heavy scrutiny, the electric cargo bike market – worth over €1.2 billion in Europe – is on a steady growth path. In Europe, the B2B cargo bike market grew by more than 100% in 2022 and Germany alone saw 200,000 cargo bikes released to the market last year,” the startup said in a statement.
The company noted it was “heavily focused on custom developments”, from batteries to the brake system, introducing ABS braking system and traction control to its cargo bikes. Vok said it is planning to produce 1,000 electric cargo bikes in 2024.
Impressive news! I enjoyed reading about Vok Bikes’ successful €3.8 million seed round and their plans for expanding electric cargo bike fleets across Europe. The team’s background in e-mobility and their commitment to custom developments, such as the ABS braking system and traction control, demonstrate their dedication to innovation. The growth of the electric cargo bike market, especially in response to sustainability measures by local governments, makes Vok’s expansion even more promising. Exciting times ahead for Vok Bikes!