(BRAIN) — E-bike retailer and brand Pedego has a new owner: the U.S.-based ownership group behind Urtopia, a start-up e-bike brand that offers high-tech carbon fiber and connected e-bikes.
Larry Pizzi, the CEO of newly formed New Pedego Holdings Inc., said Urtopia will provide engineering and supply chain efficiencies and will allow Pedego’s licensed retailers to access high-tech models that complement Pedego’s existing product line. The partnership will also create engineering and supply chain efficiencies that will benefit both Pedego- and Urtopia-branded e-bikes, he said.
In 2021 Verlinvest, an investor group established by the shareholders in the international beverage group AB-InBev, took a majority share in Pedego, which was founded by Don DiCostanzo in 2008. DiCostanzo remained on the company’s board until Oct. 20 this year and is now unconnected to the company.
Pizzi, an industry veteran and co-chair of PeopleForBike’s e-bike subcommittee, celebrated his one-year anniversary with Pedego this week. Pizzi said Verlinvest decided this spring to exit its investment and he spent most of the year identifying a new buyer. He said he had interest from four potential buyers before settling on Urtopia.
Pedego and Urtopia had already been working together as Urtopia was one of a handful of third-party brands that Pedego dealers are authorized to sell to complement Pedego’s product line. Pizzi said Urtopia models appeal to a younger, more “tech-forward” buyer than Pedego-branded models, which appeal to an older customer.
“Fifty-eight dealers took on Urtopia and it was like magic: Store operators were saying, ‘it’s great, it’s not confusing (to the customer) because they can offer a distinct brand and curated experience that appealed to a different consumer.' So it was sort of like a great marriage that blossomed into more cooperation and discussion about an opportunity to acquire Pedego,” he said.
Urtopia was founded by Owen Zhang and backed by several rounds of private equity investments and a crowdfunding campaign. Pizzi said it was a strategic investment by the ownership group behind Urtopia and that Urtopia e-bikes will continue to be sold by independent retailers in Europe and the U.S., and consumer-direct online from Urtopia’s website. Meanwhile, Pedego will continue to offer its dealers Pedego-branded e-bikes, Urtopia e-bikes, and a small number of third-party brands.
Rebuilding dealer count
After reaching a maximum of about 220 dealers during the pandemic, Pedego now has about 120 following the post-pandemic slump. Pizzi said the company plans to begin a new push to grow its dealer count late next year, and is forecasting dealerbase growth in 2027-2029, with a goal of reaching 500 U.S. stores.
Pizzi said Pedego hasn’t launched a new e-bike model since 2023.
“We’ve got a lot of catching up to do to get in front of the market again,” he said.
