Accelerace Invest: Donkey Republic raises double-digit Series A investment

In January 2016 the bike-share startup Donkey Republic raised a pre-seed investment round with participation from Accelerace Invest. Today – seven months later – they have raised a double-digit Series A investment from the Danish venture fond VF Venture and Luxemburg-based VC Howzat. That makes it one of the fastest Series A investments in the history of Accelerace Invest. The bicycle makes sense in cities. With the rising urbanization the bike offers a great way to move around on two wheels and there are many social, economic, environmental, safety and public health benefits of urban cycling. The bike-share startup Donkey Republic are well aware of these benefits and has combined the global trends of urban cycling and sharing economy. With a new double-digit Series A investment the startup is looking to scale their business internationally. Donkey Republic offers a simple and easy way for tourists, commuters and others to get around. Just book a bike online and unlock it from a smartphone 24/7, in Copenhagen or other cities around the world. Erdem Ovacik CEO of Donkey Republic says: “We are looking to export the Danish culture of urban cycling which the support from Accelerace and now the series A investment from VF Venture and Howzat has paved the road for. The experience, knowledge and network of the Accelerace Invest team has been of great value to us and have played a big part in getting us to where we are today. We are thrilled with the new Series A investment that has made it possible to take in new skilled team members and expand to new markets.” From pre-seed investment to series A in seven months The startup has been on the fast track ever since it was established in 2014 in downtown Copenhagen by the four skilled entrepreneurs, Erdem Ovacik, Alexander Frederiksen, Rune Kokholm and Jens Frandsen. In the fall of 2015 they got accepted into the Accelerace program and later in 2016 raised a pre-seed-investment with participation from Accelerace Invest. Since then the startup has gotten more than 500 bikes on the streets of Denmark, Sweden, USA, Great Britain, Spain and New Zealand. The new Series A investment where VF Venture has invested 10M DKK and Howzat has invested a couple of million DKK acording to Børsen. This makes it one of the fastes Series A investments in the history of Accelerace Invest. David Ventzel, investment manager at Accelerace Invest says: “Donkey Republic is a one-of-a-kind startup with international potential and a great team of ‘go-getters’ with lots of startup passion and an ability to learn and adapt when necessary. This has been crucial for us in Accelerace Invest when we invested in the startup in early 2016. We are truly pleased about their Series A investment and look forward to be part of their exciting road ahead.” With the new investment Donkey Republic aims to get 2000 donkey-bikes on the street in 2016 and 10,000 internationally over the upcoming years. Read more on www.donkey.bike. Video: Donkey Republic. The global community of smart bike sharers Read more about Donkey Republic’s investment on the following links VF Venture – Vækstfonden – Donkey Republic: Dansk koncept ofr dele-cykler ruller ud i verden Børsen – Cykel-branchens svar på Airbnb? Iværksættere henter millioner til kæmpe satsning. Donkey Republic on stage in March 2016 at Nordic Startup Conference as winner of the Battle Of The Vikings Nordic pitch competition organized by Accelerace.]]>