Up(bi)cycling: Bravobike refurbishes used bikes and sells them online. We asked its founders our seven questions.
1. Who are you and what do you do? Please briefly introduce yourselves and your business!
We stand for the sustainable resale of high-quality used bikes and e-bikes. We buy them from private individuals on wirkaufendeinfahrrad.de and also from retailers, manufacturers and lessors. All of the bikes are checked, reconditioned and cleaned here in our workshop in Munich. We then resell the bikes on our sales portal gebrauchtradstudio.de or on third-party portals. At the moment, this form of buying and reselling high-quality, used bikes still predominantly happens “offline”. We want to change that and take it into the digital age. The Managing Directors are Oliver Diekmann (37) and Axel Donath (38). Axel (bikesale.de) and Olli (Lieferheld, Shopnow) have many years of experience in the startup scene and in the structured development of companies.
Blue book for bikes
2. But that’s already been done!
Nope, amazingly enough, it hasn’t. So we thought it was high time — and founded bravobike! We’ve also developed a lot of things for the bike segment that come from the automotive industry. An example is a data-based value assessment, similar to the blue book for used cars in the US. It’s called a Schwacke list in Germany.
3. What was your biggest challenge so far?
We definitely have specific requirements in terms of our location. It has to combine an office with a workshop and a warehouse. You don’t find that very often in Munich. And then you have to be flexible when considering planned growth. It was pretty tough to find the right property.
“Munich is an incredible city to live in”
4. Now let’s get down to the nitty-gritty: How is business going?
Like any other startup, we don’t communicate any raw turnover figures. But we are lucky enough to find ourselves in a situation where we’re not chasing target figures, but instead exceeded them from the beginning. That on its own makes some business decisions less stressful and allows us to build bravobike to be highly sustainable. We launch confetti cannons to celebrate achievements, and we can definitely say that you’ll often see confetti all over the place here.
5. What does Munich mean to you?
Munich is an incredible city to live in. Our quite central location in the Westend means we have walk-in customers, and it’s easy for us to get outdoors on the Isar River to take an after-work bike trip through Munich.
6. How will your startup become the next unicorn? Or will we be seeing you at an Epic Fail Night soon?
One thing we focus on are well-structured processes and automation based on operating procedures. Our excellent and bike savvy employees work hand in hand, which is also a major factor. And we are fortunate enough to implement sustainable business development thanks to long-term contracts. We’ll see if that’s enough to become a “unicorn” — what’s most important to us is doing something useful and not just worrying about our rating.
7. What’s your favorite biking route in Munich?
We like to bike on the Isar banks and Isar trails most!