New models, new design and replacement guarantee in case of theft, the electric bike brand created by Marc Simoncini goes into overdrive. And raises funds to conquer abroad.
The protruding biceps, the adjusted polo shirt and the words debited in staccato, Marc Simoncini, the best known of the French “serial entrepreneurs”, has lost none of his energy. Five years ago, he launched Angell, his brand of chic and designer electric bikes, with two main ideas: to convert these motorist pigs to the cycle and to find a solution to the scourge that strikes the bike in town, namely theft. “At the time, I had offices on rue François-Ier, in the heart of Paris. I couldn’t stand seeing the congested city and the stale air,” says the founder of Meetic. In addition to theft – 550 electric bikes stolen per month in Paris – the other major obstacle to converting to cycles was security. Hence the idea of creating “smart-bikes”, bikes stuffed with electronics with screens, software… and above all super light: 15.9 kilos.
Angell defines itself as a premium bike brand but not a luxury one
The beginnings are tumultuous. Too much success, with 10,000 orders when Marc Simoncini hoped to sell a maximum of 1,500, technical bugs and this damn pandemic. He put everything back on track, decided to entrust the manufacture of his bikes to an industrialist, SEB, refocused around three poles (headquarters in Paris, R&D in Toulouse, maintenance in Seine-Saint-Denis) and rethought his marketing offer. “Today, we have divided our breakdown rate by ten. And our bikes, equipped with an overpowered alarm, are stolen three times less than the others. Normal, they can only work with their original battery and we locate them to the nearest meter,” enthuses Marc Simoncini. In 2022, it is changing gear again with a series of announcements. He is going to refurbish all his first bikes delivered, offers two new models, cruisers, more comfortable and more expensive – 3,400 euros against 2,860 euros originally. And above all, it launches the Angell Back guarantee. Any stolen bike will be replaced. Never seen.
Also read. Mobility: Angell, the 3.0 bike
Angell, which defines itself as a premium but not luxury bicycle brand – there are machines costing more than 6,000 euros in Germany – is present in 25 cities in France. Its users make, on average, eight five-kilometre office-to-home trips per week. Its reduced autonomy (50 kilometres) and technical details, such as the presence of a chain and not a belt transmission, made the purists wince. But Marc Simoncini doesn’t care. “The pros accuse us of being a salon bike, too beautiful, too stylish. They are not in our target: 72% of our customers had never ridden a bike before. Next objective: international, with the bet that, from 2025, a European capital will ban heat engines. Marc Simoncini is starting a fundraiser to develop on the Old Continent but also in Asia, or even, why not, in the Americas.