Sir Chris Hoy-backed Skarper rides off with £4.5m funding boost

A mobility technology company backed by Sir Chris Hoy, the six-times gold medal-winning British Olympic cyclist, is raising millions of pounds to fund its expansion as it prepares to deliver its first product to customers.

Sky News understands that Skarper, which was founded in 2020, has clinched £4.5m in additional financing from a syndicate of prominent investors.

Skarper has patented a lightweight, portable drive system which connects to regular bicycles' disc brake rotors and transforms them into high-performance electric bikes with a 50km range.

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The Skarper device, invented by the company's founder, Dr Alastair Darwood, can be disconnected to turn it back into a regular bike in the same amount of time.

The technology was developed by the company's engineers in collaboration with the Formula One team Oracle Red Bull Racing's advanced technologies division.

The funding round is being led by Adjuvo, a network of angel investors whose members include some of the UK's leading businesspeople and entrepreneurs, and which has backed a string of successful start-ups.

Existing Skarper investors including Starry Group, a global consumer products manufacturer, mobility technology investor Mobilitech Capital, and Yaron Kottler, chairman of engineering and cybersecurity services group Resilion, also participated in the funding round,

Skarper's patented technology system, called DiskDrive, is manufactured by Tetro, which is part of Starry Group.

The new funding injection takes the total raised by Skarper since it was established to £12.8m.

"Skarper is set to establish itself as a major player and novel part of the fast-growing e-bike market with a unique device that could revolutionise the sector," Mark Foster-Brown, Adjuvo's chief executive, said.

"Cycling is a $100bn industry and is only forecast to grow as new assistance technology is developed to enable more people to use it both as a form of transport and recreation."

Employing just over 20 people and based in London, Skarper plans to deliver its first products in the final quarter of this year, with the UK its initial focus before it plans to expand across Europe.

The new funding will be used to boost production capacity, invest in marketing and its sales infrastructure.

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Ean Brown, co-founder and chief executive of Skarper, described the fundraising as "a major milestone".

"Raising almost £13m to date is testament to the product and brand that we have created.

"Such significant capital allows us to satisfy the customer demand for Skarper, achieve our growth targets and make a positive impact in the cycling industry."