Piper, a specialist investor in consumer branded businesses, is investing £11.5 million into Wattbike – the smart indoor bike brand.
Wattbike was founded in Nottingham, England, in 2007 by former world champion rower Ian Wilson in collaboration with British Cycling. Its mission to ‘create the best performing indoor training bike, differentiated by its exceptional accuracy and patented technology that supports scientific quality data collection through the Wattbike Hub.’
The brand has become a firm favourite among elite sportspeople, with teams such as British Cycling and the England football squad training on its bikes, along with sporting champions such as Dame Jessica Ennis-Hill, Anthony Joshua and Chloé Dygert.
Although initially to be found in the UK’s leading gym chains, Wattbike’s direct to consumer offering has seen rapid growth over the last few years, with the business forecasting total sales in excess of £21 million in 2020.
The company has experienced particularly strong growth in recent months with sales orders rising 192% year-on-year in April. Based in Nottingham, it currently employs 64 staff.
With the ambition to become the world’s most popular indoor smart bike, Wattbike has invested in developing its range of products and recently launched three new smart bikes – the Nucleus and Atom X for the B2B market and the Atom Next Generation, the latest Wattbike model for the consumer market.
Alongside these launches, Wattbike has continued to develop its supporting technology. The Wattbike Hub app enables riders to collect detailed data for training and performance improvement, while the bike is ‘software agnostic’, allowing riders to race and train with friends in a virtual world by connecting to other providers such as Peloton or Zwift.
Piper’s £11.5 million investment (subject to FCA approval) will help the business to continue growth in the UK and further penetrate the USA and Asia, capitalising on the global rise in connected at home fitness and cycling. It is the sixth investment from Piper VI, its £125 million fund.
Rich Baker, CEO of Wattbike, said “Since first meeting the Piper team in 2016 they have consistently helped and supported our business. We are confident that their investment and expertise will help us realise our global ambitions for the Wattbike brand.”
Dusan Adamovic, Technical Director at Wattbike, said “We are very excited to have the backing of Piper who are such experienced and focused investors with a clear understanding of the opportunities we have for Wattbike to help more and more consumers improve their performance and health.”
Dan Stern, Piper’s Investment Director, who lead the deal, said “We are very excited to be backing the Wattbike team for the next stage of growth.
“Indoor fitness training alongside the rise in consumers cycling and participating in triathlons make this is a very attractive market sector and Wattbike is in a league of its own when it comes to high-performance indoor bikes. We’re looking forward to working with Rich and the team over the coming years.”
Ian Wilson stepped down as Chief Executive in 2018 but remains a Non-Executive Director and shareholder. Gordon Baird, former Chairman of sports footwear brand Inov-8 and swimwear brand Zoggs, will join the business as Non-Executive Chairman.
Ashcombe Advisers and Houlihan Lokey advised the company on the transaction.
www.wattbike.com
www.piper.co.uk
