In November 2020, funds advised by Bregal Unternehmerkapital (“BU”) successfully acquired a significant minority stake in the Austrian children’s bicycle producer woom and are now supporting the company’s next milestone. In July 2021, woom successfully joined forces with its general importer for the US market – woombikes USA, LLC (“woom USA”) – to form a single company, thereby completing the first acquisition in its history. This combination fuses the strengths and passion of both successful companies and will further accelerate the growth trajectory of the overall woom brand.
Headquartered in Klosterneuburg near Vienna, woom was established in 2013 in a garage by bike enthusiasts Christian Bezdeka and Marcus Ihlenfeld, who began developing a child’s bicycle with the goal of making it easier for children to learn how to ride a bike. Today, woom employs approximately 100 people at its headquarters and every third children’s bicycle sold in Austria is a woom bike. The company’s portfolio includes innovative balance bikes and children’s bicycles, which allow children between two and 14 years to cycle safely and intuitively, whilst enjoying their time on the bike. In addition, off-road bikes, electric mountain bikes, as well as sophisticated bike equipment are an integral part of the product portfolio. In total, the company is active in 30 countries worldwide and with more than 200,000 bicycles sold in 2020, achieved a sales increase of 63 percent compared to the previous year.
In the US market, woom is also one of the fastest growing bicycle brands. With 50,000 bicycles sold per year, the US team sells almost one sixth of the company’s total production – a number that continues to grow. With the merger between the parent company and woom USA, this growth is set to accelerate even further. In addition, both the customer service and customer experiences are to be optimised according to the US model. Responsible for the company’s success in the US market is Mathias Ihlenfeld, brother of CEO Marcus Ihlenfeld, who founded the US branch in Austin, Texas, in 2014. Together with the current management team, he will lead the combined companies’ business activities.
This combination with woom USA represents only one aspect of woom’s current expansion efforts. The company’s growth in Austria also continues as the company expects to double its number of employees to 200 over the next twelve months. Globally, woom expects to employ almost 300 staff by mid-2022. In addition, woom – together with its partner SPRICK Cycles – opened a new production facility in Świebodzin, Poland, and initiated the digitalisation of its entire supply chain management. As part of a “nearshoring” push, these measures are to create additional production capacities closer to the company’s core sales markets in order to ensure delivery capabilities during times of high demand.
The BU team is happy to support woom during this growth phase. The company has shown extraordinary resilience during the Covid-19 crisis and the resulting difficulties in the international movement of goods and is well-positioned for future growth.
