They are particularly lightweight, appealingly and economically designed, and 100 percent fitted to the needs of children: The products of the Austrian children’s bicycle producer woom are in high demand. And for this growth company, all signs point towards an even higher level of internationalisation and digitalisation, which Bregal will support as part of a significant minority investment. In addition to sustainable, long-term financing through entrepreneurial capital, the family investor will also bring its extensive network and know-how to the table to support the partnership and the next steps on the growth journey of woom.
woom was established in 2013 in a garage in Vienna, when bike enthusiasts Christian Bezdeka and Marcus Ihlenfeld began developing a children’s bicycle with the goal of making learning how to ride a bike as easy as possible. Today, woom employs about 100 people at its head-quarters in Klosterneuburg, Austria, and produces more than 200,000 children’s bicycles annually. Its product range includes innovative balance bikes and children‘s bicycles, which grow with the driver and make learning how to ride a bike easy, safe and intuitive. In addition, off-road bikes, electric mountain bikes along with sophisticated bike equipment are an integral part of the product portfolio as well.
With a current annual growth of 60 percent, the high demand for woom bikes is now exceeding the available supply: To satisfy the demand, an additional production site is to be established in Europe to support the existing Asian facilities. Due to the new site‘s ideal geographic position, production and demand are moving closer to each other – all in accordance to woom’s strategy of sustainability. Areas such as digitalisation, e-commerce, community building and organisational development are to be strengthened as well to support woom’s rapid growth trajectory substantially. In addition to both founders and managing directors, which will continue to hold a majority in the company, and Bregal, its growth is also supported by several private co-investors such as Runtastic founder Florian Gschwandtner. All of them are united by a common understanding in regard to sustainability, responsibility and passion for woom’s products.
The Bregal Unternehmerkapital team is looking forward to a long-term cooperation with woom. The company is ideally positioned to benefit of a strong growth market – as an alternative means of transport, bicycles have been experiencing a boom in recent years, which has only been exacerbated through the corona crisis and a global trend towards climate protection and sustainability.
