Ride Colibri Secures $220,000 in Pre-Seed Funding Following ‘Shark Tank Romania’ Appearance
Ride Colibri, the electric mobility company, has raised $220,000 in pre-seed funding. This comes after the widely-viewed televised September pitch of our flagship product, Ride Colibri M22, on ‘Shark Tank Romania’ (also known as ‘Lions’ Empire’ in Romania and ‘Dragon’s Den’ in the UK, Australia, and other countries).
The Lions’ interest in investing in Ride Colibri validated what we have been working toward these past 18 months. Following the show’s broadcast, customers and angel investors began reaching out to us, resulting in additional pre-sales of the flagship Colibri model M22 on top of the $230,000 M22 pre-orders to date, and we quickly closed the pre-seed funding round. The financing will help us speed up production and delivery times.
Read on to:
Reflect on our experience as a ‘Shark Tank Romania’ contestant
Learn about the funds raised post-appearance
Explore the story behind Ride Colibri M22—the first Romanian-made electric motorcycle
Looking Back at the ‘Shark Tank Romania’ Experience
Petre introduced Ride Colibri M22, the first electric motorcycle manufactured in Romania, as a bike designed to provide long-distance rides with comfort at a great price—the launch offers starting at $2,799 + VAT for the single battery model and $3,795 + VAT for the triple battery model.
“Ride Colibri M22’s range of 200 km per charge is the highest in the market. Most of our competitors offer only a maximum 100 km per charge under ideal conditions.” —Petre Georgescu, Founder of Ride Colibri, at ‘Shark Tank Romania’
And yes, charging this electric motorcycle costs less than a cup of coffee. ⚡️
It has a wallet-friendly price tag and low running costs, as well as a simple and practical design that has made it attractive to riders worldwide. The two-wheeler has been well-received in the US and Europe, where our initial target buyers live. We aim to expand to Asia, South America, and Africa in due course. At the time of recording, we had sold 44 fully-paid motorcycles and generated over $230,000 in revenue. We also received 240 deposit-paid reservations and had over 3,000 people on the waiting list—and the numbers continue to grow.
With the help of the TV show’s investors, we aimed to reduce customer wait and delivery times to a few months, shipping faster than the industry norm. Petre proposed a deal that would make this possible: the Lions would invest €200,000 in exchange for 10% of the company’s capital stock. 30% of the funds would go toward working capital to speed up the delivery process.
Two ‘Lions’, Daniel Mischie (CEO of City Grill) and Răzvan Raț (former international football player and entrepreneur) offered €200,000 for 30% of the company’s stock. We countered the offer for 15%, valuing Ride Colibri at €1.33M, a significant discount for a production-ready company led by a second-time successful mobility founder with over €200,000 in paid-up pre-sales and a significant margin, but the Lions did not accept it. Still, we are thankful for their interest, feedback, and the chance to pitch the Ride Colibri M22 electric motorcycle on PRO TV, one of Romania’s largest TV networks, in a prime-time appearance with a significant online following.
Raising Pre-Seed Funding of $220,000 Post ‘Shark Tank Romania’
Soon after being featured on ‘Shark Tank Romania’, we succeeded in closing a pre-seed funding round.
The investment round was backed by six angel investors:
Paul Robert Cary—Entrepreneur, Angel Investor, and now Senior Vice President at Softbank-backed Jellysmack who acquired his third startup
Gabriela Amarie—Product Marketer & Founder of Digital Tailors Agency, acquired by Romania’s Softbinator Technologies [$CODE]
Radu Amarie—Angel Investor, Former Founder and CTO of Kamua, acquired by Jellysmack where Radu is a Senior Staff Engineer
Chris Severson—Managing Director at Terra Firma Capital Partners and former Topgun pilot and instructor
Shane Gray—Serial Entrepreneur and Angel Investor with several exits
Ștefan Muscalu—Founding Employee at Kamua (acquired by Jellysmack where he is a Staff Lead Software Engineer)
Investors have put their trust in our urban (and suburban!) mobility solution by contributing $220,000 in pre-seed funding. Their financial support gives us the resources to speed up production and delivery—so that we can bring Ride Colibri M22, the world’s longest-range and most versatile electric motorcycle (there is an off-road version!), to more riders across the globe, much faster.
Ride Colibri is now incorporated in the United States of America, where the pre-seed fundraising was concluded.
Getting to Know the Ride Colibri M22
Having lived in large cities for many years, Petre Georgescu (Founder of Ride Colibri) is all too familiar with the daily struggles of urban traffic. The need for easy, fast, and convenient city transport led him to designthe world’s lightest foldable bike, with a carbon fiber construction—the Hummingbird—and his latest creation, the Ride Colibri M22 electric motorcycle.
Crafted by Petre in his workshop in Giurgiu, Romania, Ride Colibri M22 is a no-fuss electric two-wheeler that allows for long, smooth rides. Described by aficionados as “Model T Ford Meets Tesla Model S,” this motorcycle is minimalistic, lightweight, and easy to handle, yet still delivers plenty of power and torque (as much as 15 washing machines!). It seats two people comfortably for extended journeys of up to 200 km before needing to be recharged. Plus, the M22 is very low maintenance, folds up to fit in cramped spaces, and can be ridden with a standard car driver’s license.
It comes equipped with up to 3 removable lithium-ion batteries, 17-inch wheels, a brushless hub motor, a powerful controller, and a comfortable suspension system.
Petre and the Ride Colibri team went through several prototypes and extensive testing before the M22 electric motorcycle was ready to go into production.
Production Timeline
November 2021: first prototype road test
July 2022: second prototype road test
June 2023: assembled the Alpha prototype
August 2023: initiated the type approval for street-legal use
October 2023: start of production development
January 2024: first customer deliveries
Production of the Ride Colibri M22 electric motorbike has kicked off at our assembly facility in Romania, with general deliveries to our customer base beginning in February 2024.
Summing Up
Exciting times lie ahead for us as we move forward with the development and delivery of the Ride Colibri M22 electric motorcycle.
The support of our investors has boosted the confidence we have in the M22 and the Ride Colibri brand, and our continued sales growth will propel us over the horizon.
To enquire about future funding opportunities, or to purchase a Ride Colibri M22, please reach out to us.
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