Vietnam-based, carbon fibre pioneer Arevo has announced the successful fulfilment of 96% of its Superstrata-branded custom carbon fibre bikes.
Backed by an Indiegogo crowdfunding project, launched in early 2020, the company quickly gained more than US$7 million in donations followed by US$25m in Series B funding.
“When we started this journey more than two years ago, we expected fulfilment to take months, not years,” said Arevo CEO Sonny Vu. “We never imagined our campaign would receive 72 times the support we expected – or that a global pandemic, war, and economic downturn would follow.
“Today’s outcome was only possible because of our backers’ faithful support and our team members’ unstoppable commitment.”
Arevo’s Superstrata-branded custom carbon fibre bikes are notable in that manufacturing is based on a scaled-up carbon 3D-printing process.
Since its crowdfunding launch, the company has gained recognition along the way, winning acclaim from Red Dot, Good Design, A’ Design, European Product Design, Core77 Design and more. Bike fulfilment also set the stage for a trial run of Superstrata Factory Pass, an immersive, behind-the-scenes experience that takes customers beyond the factory gates and transparency into the 3D-printing process itself.
96% of Indiegogo backer perks have now been fulfilled, totalling 3,301 custom 3D-printed carbon fibre bikes and e-bikes produced for 2,858 backers at Superstrata’s facilities in Vietnam.
What was initially intended to act as a case study of Arevo’s carbon fibre printing technology gained complexity in a period defined by a lack of sufficient printing capacity, bike component shortages, and skyrocketing shipping costs.
To keep on track Superstrata trimmed expenses and prioritized Indiegogo campaign perk fulfilment above all else. When local shutdowns due to the pandemic closed city streets, 150 factory workers and professional staff volunteered to move into the factory for three months to continue production.
Arevo CEO Sonny Vu said “It’s almost laughable that we applied our industrial 3D printing technology to a consumer product category (bikes) with which we had no experience, but doing so battle-tested our processes in ways we never thought necessary.
“Whether our next frontier is aerospace, defence, or an emerging category that has yet to be named, one thing is certain: few things could be more complex than manufacturing a bike in 2021.”
