London-based Swytch Technology has announced that it is to launch a world-first, pocket-sized eBike battery that turns any bike into an electric bike.
The new Swytch eBike conversion kit features a pocket-sized battery (the Power Pack) which is similar in size to a large smart phone. The battery provides 250W of power and enough range for a daily commute, whilst weighing only 700g and can be recharged in around one hour.
Swytch believes that eBikes should be lightweight, affordable and work like a regular bike whilst having electric functionality. The new Swytch Kit is the result of world-class engineering and design to create a truly revolutionary product that brings affordable cutting-edge technology to the eBike market. It is a pedal assist system, meaning that it provides power as you pedal. The pedal sensor detects when you are pedalling, and the motor controller (contained inside the handlebar connector) draws power from the pocket-sized Swytch battery and powers a 250W hub motor contained inside a front motor wheel.
The key advantages of the new conversion kit are:
A never-seen-before pocket-sized eBike battery.
A flight-safe battery (allowing it to be taken in carry-on luggage).
The cost will be around four times lower than the price of an eBike with equivalent specifications.
Filling a gap in the market
Swytch, which has its headquarters in London, was founded by engineers Oliver Montague and Dmitro Khroma in 2017 in response to an obvious gap in the market for a sustainable city transport solution. Oliver now plays a pivotal role as head of the company as CEO and Dmitro leads a world class engineering team as CTO. Swytch believes that transport shouldn’t cost the Earth – so they’ve made it their mission to make electric transport accessible to everybody.
The firm has grown at break-neck pace in the last three years, growing sales volumes at a rate of almost 300% per year, and increasing the team from just six employees in 2019, to 50 and counting in 2022. With its unique hybrid working approach and emphasis on employee ownership, it’s fast becoming one of the most popular tech start-ups to join and has recently won the Best Place to Work award.
Swytch is already a leader in the eBike market through the success of its existing version of the Swytch Kit which is one of the best-selling eBike products in the UK, having sold over 9,000 units in 2020, making it responsible for over 5% of the entire eBike market by volume. To date, Swytch has sold almost 40,000 units of the original Swytch Kit to customers all over the world, with over 50% of sales being to international customers, primarily in the EU and USA. Now, with the introduction of its new kit, Swytch anticipates that global sales volumes will grow to 50,000 units annually.
Swytch Kits have been delivered to customers in over 50 countries and their customers have ridden a total of over 1.5 million miles on their Swytch Bikes, saving over 17,000 tonnes of CO2e as a result of the embodied carbon emissions savings associated with ‘up-cycling’ an existing bicycle, plus the emissions saved by cycling more instead of driving.
Investment drives team growth
Swytch has recently raised £3.8m of equity investment, primarily from climate tech and sustainability focused investors. The largest investors are Green Angel Syndicate and Calyx Venture Fund, with the remainder of the funding coming from One Planet Capital, and individual members of the following: Startup Funding Club, Angels Den, Wealth Club, and Southern Angel Investors Club (SAIC), plus a number of other private investors. Swytch’s latest round of funding will be used primarily to invest in people and grow Swytch’s team, as well as to scale up their manufacturing and supply chain to increase production capacity in order to keep pace with their rapid growth in demand.
Dmitro Khroma said:
“Our new improved Swytch Kit is a game-changer. It is going to totally disrupt the eBike industry because it is so much lighter, smaller and more affordable than anything else out there”.
Oliver Montague added:
“Our job as innovators is to make environmentally-friendly technology that people want to use because it is cool! That way, a global change to a more sustainable way of life will happen naturally.”
The new Swytch Kit will be available to pre-order following the official public launch. To learn more and watch Swytch’s pre-launch video visit www.swytchbike.com