Scottish firm pumps millions into lightweight electric bike motor
An East Kilbride-based firm behind a lightweight e-bike motor is moving into production and adding jobs following the completion of a £1.65 million funding round.
The funding injection, led by investment syndicate Kelvin Capital, will accelerate the production of units from Freeflow Technologies’(fft)production linein2022,readytobesoldinto the fast-growing e-bike sector.
Chaired by Martin Mccourt, formerglobalchiefexecutiveof Dyson, the business completed a previous funding round in November 2020, securing £1.85m, which saw the firm move to new headquarters and research and development (R&D) facility in East Kilbride and adding senior technical positions and assembly engineers.thecompanyalsoraised £1.8m in October 2018.
The latest funding, which was also supported by Equity Gap, Scottish Enterprise and many private individuals, will see additional staff recruited across electrical and software engineering, process engineering and design.
More than 70 cycling brands are said to have FFT’S electronic transmission system unit on their radar for integration into their e-bike ranges.
FFT’S patented transmission systemismorelightweightand compact, with the motor and battery easily assembled into thebicycleframeratherthanan oversizedattachmentasiscommonwithcurrentelectricbikes. The system also connects the independentbikeshopsaround the world to FFT as the unit can be serviced in store.
The firm, founded in 2012 in
Glasgow by e-bike innovator Neil Macmartin following 15 years in his family bike business,hasaseniormanagement team made up of experts in design, development, financial planning and cycling industry experts.
Mccourt said: “Freeflow Technologywillsoonbeonsale, incorporated into a number of leadingbikebrands,andweare thrilledtohavehadsuchenthusiastic support from our existing investors as well as several
new ones.” David Hemming, managing director of FFT, said: “Despite the impact of Covid on societies around the world over the last two years, the demand and adoption of e-bikes continuestogrowsignificantly,which isbeingreflectedinthenumber of cycle manufacturers reaching out to us.
“One of the major appeals of the Freeflow system for e-bike designers is that it is very much ‘plug and play’ and can work in harmony with a brand’s existing battery or switch suppliers. It has also been commented that it makes an e-bike look and feel like a normal bike which is a big attraction for consumers.”
John Mcnicol from Kelvin Capital said: “The rise in the number of people taking to cycling and e-biking was already rising before the impact of Covid and that has increased significantly in the last two years.
“The impressive progress made by Freeflow Technologies to move to production, its increasing reputation in the global cycling sector and its impressive management team means that Kelvin Capital is delighted to continue to back the business.”
Scottish Enterprise director of growth investments Kerry Sharp added: “Scottish Enterprise is proud to have supported Freeflow’s growth journey.”