As VC-backed e-bike startups went bankrupt, bootstrapped Lectric grew

Lectric eBikes , a Phoenix, Arizona-based company known for its practical and affordable XP series electric bikes, has launched three new brands so far this year — a Juiced Bikes relaunch, a new Juiced Powersports brand, and now a premium adventure brand called Monarc — an expansion strategy that runs counter to the wave of bankruptcies that have plagued the sector. Together, Lectric has put about $10 million toward these initiatives, CEO Levi Conlow told TechCrunch. “Others might be pulling back, or raising money, we’re actually deploying and investing into initiatives like this,” he said. “I actually don’t think the market is saturated right now; Lectric last month had its biggest sales month in our company’s existence and we sold almost 30,000 bikes. I’m not sure anybody has done that before, even at like peak COVID.” Image Credits: Lectric eBikes It may seem like an odd time to launch an e-bike brand, let alone three. In the past two years a slew of e-bike companies have filed for bankruptcy, shut down, or withered until they were snapped up by larger companies. Rad Power Bikes, the buzzy electric bike company that raised nearly $330 million in venture capital, was perhaps the highest-profile collapse. The company, once valued at $1.65 billion, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in December. Its assets were acquired by Life Electric Vehicles Holdings for $13.2 million . …