Ever wanted to own a piece of a bike company without actually having to start your own bike company? Esker Cycles, which was co-founded by industry veteran Tim Krueger and uses Dave Weagle’s Orion suspension system for their full-susser mountain bikes, is now giving you the opportunity to own shares in their company.
Through an equity crowdfunding campaign on StartEngine, you’re able to buy in with as little as a $231 investment, with rewards starting at $500 investments. Besides owning a piece of the brands, perks range from 5% discounts on bikes up to bigger discounts on up to one bike per year, meetups and events with the founders, and more.
With the bike industry currently seeing record growth and record supply chain issues, we’ve seen some major acquisitions lately – SRAM buying Time Pedals, KTM buying Felt, and PON buying Cannondale.
Esker’s move should give them the capital to continue growing without selling out completely. But, should they hit their targets, does position them as a future acquisition candidate. And that, barring any interim distributions, would be the payoff opportunity for private investors.
According to the disclosures on their campaign page, Esker’s current four-model mountain bike lineup will see some updates and additions.
2022 should see a titanium Hayduke and Japhy, followed by two new titanium models in the fall (if we had to guess, we’d say gravel?). 2023 and 2024 should see three new steel models and three new full suspension models, some as alloy versions of their carbon fiber Orion full suspension models, all of which they say are already in the design and engineering phases.
From the Press Release: “The history of our company has been one built on the trust and excitement of everyday mountain bikers like us. When it came time to take our company to the next stage, it simply made sense to offer it to everyone through equity crowdfunding.” Said CEO Tim Krueger
Since its founding, Esker has been primarily self-funded, and is extremely proud of what they have accomplished, but they are ready for the next stage of growth. Heading into 2022 Esker has new bike models to bring to market, and will be increasing inventory on their existing lineup in order to keep up with the incredible demand of online customers, and to open up new dealers in areas that they have not been able to supply.
“Esker has a desirable product, a passionate customer base, a forward-thinking business model, and an exciting roadmap for the future. We are thrilled to be able to offer a piece of our growing company to everyone that wants to be a part of this journey with us.” Said Marketing Director Ryan Krueger.
Check out Esker’s StartEngine campaign for more details. As always, do your own research, nothing in this article is or should be construed as financial advice.
