BRANDS W woom CEO Bernd Hake and VP of Design and Innovation, Chris Small
Bernd Hake, woom CEO T
his past month has seen Austrian children’s bike brand woom launch the WOW, a uniquely designed and manufactured self-balancing bike. The launch proved an opportune time to speak with woom
CEO Bernd Hake and VP of Design and Innovation, Chris Small. After all, how often do you hear of a children’s bike brand which starts in a garage, and, 12 years later, is on track for a €150 million year!
First up, thank you both for making the time to talk. With the recent launch of WOW, there’s been plenty of media coverage. Here we’ll dip into a few different aspects of the woom conversation.
48 | January 2026
Let’s start with that eye-catching “children’s bike brand which starts in a garage, and 12 years later is on track for a €150 million year” headline. Bernd, can you share some details with us?
Here we are. It’s the accurate and attention-grabbing version of our story, for sure. Crediting the founders, Christian Bezdeka and Marcus Ihlenfeld - two fathers who were dissatisfied with the heavy, poorly designed children’s bikes available at the time - they started the brand in a garage in Vienna in 2013.
In the UK, it’s not uncommon to hear bike shops say something along the lines of ‘there’s no money in children’s
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