Swedish startup STILRIDE has just raised €3.7 million to accelerate the development of its electric motorcycle as demand kicks up a gear. The tech innovators are also inviting the community to invest in its industrial origami revolution that aims to create a more sustainable future for e-mobility.
Founded in 2019 in Stockholm, STILRIDE has had quite an exciting journey over the past year, with demand for its unique electronic motorcycle picking up pace. The startup began the year picking up €2.9 million, then in May, the company announced the launch of a new parent company to help meet rapidly growing demand, and now, its picked up more funding and opened itself up to community investors.
New funding
Today, the startup has shared that it raised €3.7 million to develop its inaugural electric motorcycle – the Sport Utility Scooter One (SUS1) – and sustainable manufacturing technology, dubbed “industrial origami”.
The round was joined by new and existing angels that include Gustaf Hagman, Saeid Esmaeilizadeh and Tobias Emanuelsson (founder and CEO at Polar Structure).
Additionally, STILRIDE is now inviting individual enthusiasts to join the round with smaller investments, through a Crowdcube community fundraise which will end on 15th November.
Jonas Nyvang, CEO and co-founder at STILRIDE: “We’ve been blown away by the interest in both our technology and our first e-mobility launch. We truly believe we have the power to change the future of sustainable design and manufacturing, and this new investment will enable us to push the boundaries of our technology even further, even sooner than we’d hoped.”
Industrial origami
STILRIDE is aiming to bring something pretty unique to the European manufacturing market – and it’s called industrial origami. It comprises a production process that involved the use of robotic arms to fold steel over curves to form light, strong and durable new shapes. The technology, called STILFOLD, makes smarter use of resources and minimises waste, significantly reducing the climate impact of production compared to traditional manufacturing.
The first product to be built using the technology is an e-motorcycle, the Sport Utility Scooter One (SUS1), which will go on sale to the mass market next year. STILRIDE has also recently announced a new partnership with Swedish space innovation startup I.S.A.A.C – through which they’ll explore potential applications for their technology in outer space – and electric car company POLESTAR, with whom the team is collaborating to build the world’s first climate-neutral car.
This latest injection of funding will help STILRIDE further refine and develop the STILFOLD technology, bringing them closer to achieving their mission of speeding up the journey to electrification in Europe and revolutionising sustainable design and manufacturing using “green steel”.
The funding will also help STILRIDE build on the momentum created by their recent partnerships and award wins, enabling the team to explore new applications for the technology and solve sustainability challenges with fresh thinking and innovative design.
Jonas Nyvang: “We’ve had unprecedented support from new and existing investors, but also from our community of technology, design and motorcycle enthusiasts, which has helped us get to this point. This is why we wanted to open this round up to the public. We’re really excited to be able to give our community the opportunity to own a small part of the company via Crowdcube’s platform, and have a genuine stake in our future as we continue to grow. This is a really exciting time for us and we can’t wait to bring more of you along for the ride.”
