The thriller about the extremely well-known bicycle manufacturer Vanmoof is over for the time being. As the company officially announced on Tuesday morning, the Dutch judiciary declared the three companies VanMoof Global Holding B.V., VanMoof B.V. and VanMoof Global Support B.V. for insolvent. The company is therefore insolvent. In an email to employees obtained by The Verge, the founder wrote: “For the last few weeks, Ties and I have been trying to find a future for VanMoof. We are very sorry to report that despite Our efforts didn’t work out and we had to file for bankruptcy.”
Upon request, Vanmoof told Stern: “Two trustees have been appointed as trustees. The trustees continue to review Vanmoof’s situation and are exploring the possibility of a fresh start from bankruptcy through the sale of assets to a third party so that VanMoof’s activities can continue The VanMoof companies outside the Netherlands are not in bankruptcy proceedings.” It also says: “There will be no further comments at this time.”
It’s not the first time the company has gotten into trouble – only this time it’s worse. As early as 2022, insolvency could only just be averted after various factors led to the collapse of the supply chain, which is why delivery times continued to increase. At the time, existing investors saved Vanmoof with spontaneous financial injections, as the star confirmed at the time.
Just recently, it looked like Vanmoof had turned the corner. Because with the S4 (here in the test), the company presented a fresh, quite good e-bike for a fair price, which noticeably lowered the entry-level price for a new Vanmoof and should make the brand accessible to a larger target group. However, the brief respite did not last.
Days before the bankruptcy, Vanmoof began closing the company’s offices. It is said to have been a measure to ensure “the safety of colleagues in the stores”, reports the IT trade magazine “heise”. It is said that after the difficulties became known, angry customers tried to get bikes that were in service from the workshops unscheduled.
The star has recently learned that there were problems with the service. A few customers came forward whose communication with the manufacturer had previously come to a standstill. It was always a matter of procuring the simplest spare parts, which apparently could not be obtained through official channels.
If the bankruptcy trustees aren’t able to bail out the company, there’s another problem Vanmoof customers face – the software. Because if the servers, via which the e-bikes communicate with the app, are switched off, there is a risk of a drastic cut in the functionality of the bikes – from setting the motor support to controlling the light.
Vanmoof competitor Cowboy got involved to prevent this. With the so-called “Bikey” app, Cowboy offers the possibility of reading the digital key of the Vanmoof e-bike and storing it for use without contacting the company’s servers. So far, however, the app is only available for iPhones and only for certain models. Cowboy promises that software for Android is already in the works and that they are working on being able to read the keys of the models that are still outstanding soon. If you are a little more familiar with software, you will find another solution at “https://vanoof.grossartig.io/”. Some browsers classify this website as dangerous, but there are two German developers behind it, who clearly identify themselves in the imprint.
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