Kõu Mobility group bought 15,9% of the Estonian manufacturer of electric bicycles Ampler Bikes

Estonian Kõu Mobility group bought 15,9% of the Estonian manufacturer of electric bicycles Ampler Bikes from one of the founders Rait Udumäe. Now Estonian Kõu Mobility owns 66,9% of Ampler Bikes after the acquisition of 51% of Ampler’s stake in February 2023. Back then Ampler Bikes also received €1,5M investments and a loan. 

Nevertheless, in spring it was announced that Kõu Mobility Group created a tax debt of about €500K over a few months. According to the company, financial difficulties appeared after the acquisition of Ampler Bikes. Besides, Kõu Mobility group had debts to its business partners. Kristjan Maruste, the founder of Kõu Mobility group explained that the sales forecast was much higher than real demand, and that caused a cash flow crisis.

Kõu Mobility group was founded in Tallinn in 2011 by Kristjan Maruste, Teet Praks, and Heigo Varik. Kõu Mobility Group is a parent company of Comodule (iOT solutions for bicycles and scooters), a scooter rental service Tuul and an electric scooter Äike, and manufacturer of electric bicycles Ampler Bikes.

Kõu Mobility Group has more than 300 employees. According to the company, as of 2023, it has empowered nearly 1M vehicles worldwide.

Ampler Bikes was founded in Tallinn in 2016 by Ardo Kaurit, Hannes Laar, and Rait Udumäe. 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'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.