The Michigan Pre-Seed Capital Fund recently invested $250,000 in AutoBike, a hard-to-find cash infusion the bicycle start-up needed.
The Troy-based company is creating an automatic gear shift mechanism for bicycles that makes it easier to ride multi-speed bikes. It has raised $500,000, which has allowed the company to finish developing its technology and begin shipping its first products. The
Michigan Pre-Seed Capital Fund investment played a critical role.
"It meant everything to us," says Sean Simpson, CEO of
AutoBike. "Because we're a hardware type of start-up and this is our first venture, it's hard to raise money. It bridges the gap of where we are and where we need to be to atract the next round of investors and really scale up and take our program national."
AutoBike is quickly selling its first shipment of bicycles, focusing on the summer riding markets in Michigan and Florida. The company currently has a staff of eight employees and two interns that is focused on expanding the market reach and achieving production efficiencies that will improve its profit margins.
"We have already sold through half of our first order of bikes," Simpson says.
Source: Sean Simpson, CEO of AutoBike
Writer: Jon Zemke
Read more about Metro Detroit's growing entrepreneurial ecosystem at SEMichiganStartup.com.
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