BIG INTERVIEW
EMERGING FROM THE ASHES
VanMoof is back with new owners and a revamped retail and service strategy. Daniel Blackham speaks to co-CEO Eliott Wertheimer and COO Quinten de Haas to learn more
V anMoof is entering a new era.
The well-publicised downfall of the renowned e-bike brand played out throughout large parts of
2023, but as of September, its future had been secured. Lavoie, the e-mobility company backed by McLaren Applied, acquired VanMoof to inject stability into its operations with plans to create a next generation e-mobility business. “It’s been quite hectic,” explains Eliott Wertheimer,
VanMoof’s new co-CEO. “VanMoof was a company we looked up to. We saw it really pushing the industry, getting new customers in, really focusing on riders and disrupting the business in a good way. From outside it looked amazing. When things went bad we were quite surprised.
“The reason we believe VanMoof was worth a restart is amazing technology, amazing products, and really great people who believed in the brand. We also saw a brand that people loved for its products, but also what it meant for the world and how it was changing.”
26 | May 2024
Nobody can deny that VanMoof got plenty right. Ground- breaking technology and sleek designs, all at an affordable price. It’s no surprise that it built such a strong community of riders with a reported 200,000 “VanMoofers” worldwide. However, there were also issues around repairs and
maintenance, which Wertheimer acknowledges. “That was not great, but not as bad as people think,” he
says.
“What made it worse was those issues were tough to service, tough to repair and took a long time. “Also, the VanMoof infrastructure was fully owned in terms of aftersales which made it an absolute financial nightmare.”
Challenges of restarting A key part of keeping the essence of what made VanMoof a success has been retaining staff who were crucial to its first iteration. One of those who has remained for VanMoof 2.0 is Quinten de Haas, now working as the brand’s COO.
www.bikebiz.com
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