Kõu Mobility group acquires 51% of Estonian e-bike startup Ampler Bikes

Estonian Kõu Mobility group, which is a parent company of Comodule (iOT solutions for bicycles and scooters), a scooter rental service Tuul and an electric scooter Äike, acquires a 51% stake in Estonian manufacturer of electric bicycles Ampler Bikes.

With this acquisition, Ampler will become one of the business units of Kõu Mobility group, and continue to focus on developing, producing, and selling light electric bicycles. CEO and co-founder of Ampler Ardo Kaurit will keep his position in the company, and join the management of Kõu Mobility Group. Earlier, Kõu Mobility group announced that it plans to buy a company to increase its turnover twice.

Shareholdings of Ampler's existing investors will be slightly diluted. Among the company's investors are Estonian accelerator Startup Wise Guys, Wiser Financial Advisers, business-angels co-founder and CEO of money transfer service Wise Taavet Hinrikus, former Skype executive Sten Tamkivi, co-founder of Estonian unicorn Pipedrive Ragnar Sass, venture funds Metaplanet Holdings, Ambient Sound Investments.

Ampler Bikes designs, engineers and assembles lightweight electric bikes in Estonia. The e-bikes can be connected to an Ampler application. The GPS location tracking can show bike location and trip history. The company has showrooms in Berlin, Cologne, Amsterdam, Zurich, and Tallinn. It was founded in Tallinn in 2016 by Ardo Kaurit, Hannes Laar, and Rait Udumäe. 

Kõu Mobility Group was founded in Tallinn in 2011 by entrepreneurs Kristjan Maruste, Teet Praks and Heigo Varik. It has more than 300 employees. According to the company, as of 2023, it has empowered nearly one million vehicles worldwide.