Atherton Bikes is seeking around £600,000 ($775,000 USD) in further crowdfunding to help launch the next phase of its business.
The British brand will be using Crowdcube to manage the fundraising. Unlike other crowdfunding platforms, Crowdcube doesn’t offer rewards, products and merchandise to backers but instead a stake in the company. Atherton Bikes have not yet confirmed what percentage of equity will be released to investors.
Investors can join in the funding round from £11 and Atherton Bikes is predicting a 6.1% Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) on investments up to 2025. It is basing this forecast on a projected 7,500 sales in the next five years.
Atherton Bikes began life with some Angel Investors, including the Dragon’s Den businessman Piers Linney, however some equity was held back as the brand wanted to leave some of the pie for mountain bikers and members of the public too. Dan Brown, CEO, said: “Our initial Angel investment round was so successful that we had to close it early to save enough shares for the mountain bike community, something we were all unanimous on. Now we’re aiming to raise a minimum of £600,000 through crowd-funding.on the Crowd Cube platform. Working with our first customers has given us the opportunity to perfect our processes and build the operational confidence to take the company to the next level.”
The crowdfunding will apparently allow Atherton Bikes to bring its additive manufacturing into its own facility with the brand having previously manufactured its prototype frames at Renishaw near Bristol, UK. The investment will expand the brand’s capacity, allow it to launch website sales, and “increase the chances for customers to see, touch and feel our bikes and to develop the next models in the range”.
Gee Atherton said “We believe that Atherton Bikes will disrupt the mountain bike industry. Bringing manufacturing back to the UK and establishing our business with a serious focus on sustainability is a huge bonus. We are working with some amazingly clever scientists and engineers from backgrounds in aerospace, Formula1 and NASA and our fundraising is being led by (Ex BBC Dragons’ Den) Piers Linney so your investment will be in very good hands.”
The crowdfunding has not yet begun but anyone interested can pre-register, here. Investments of this nature carry risks to your capital. Please Invest Aware.
