CAKE, currently one of the most prominent and eye-catching electric motorcycle manufacturers, has filed for bankruptcy in it’s home country of Sweden.
The company is well-known for it’s modernistic designs and out-side-the-box models. Unfortunately, that unorthodox mindset was unable to secure its most recent round of investment funding. According to business news site, Dagens Industri, this has also meant that employees of the startup have not received compensation for their most recent pay period.
With CAKE as recently as last week reporting shipments of their latest off-road machine, the Bukk, this filing has seemingly come out of the blue.
In a world that wants and needs more eMotos, we never like seeing reports of flailing companies, but it’s all a part of the growing pains of an establishing industry.
Fear not, filing for bankruptcy is not the final nail in the battery box-shaped coffin. It is only the beginning of a process that will force CAKE to rethink their business strategy, and could very well attract new investment (i.e., new ownership). Let’s not sugarcoat it either, though, this is definitely not a good sign.
As tech.eu reported, since the company’s founding in 2018, CAKE has delivered approximately 6,000 motorcycles total. However, per previous projections from the OEM itself, 7,500 to 10,000 units must be sold annually before they become profitable. That is a very hard hit of reality, especially in a downward trending global economy.
We cannot help but be reminded of another forward-thinking eMoto manufacturer whose existence ceased to be, following a similar failed round of funding: Alta Motors. Ironically, the Silicon Valley-based startup went under in 2018, the same year that CAKE began operations. Let’s hope that is simply a coincidence and not a passing of the torch of eMoto companies that are destined to fail.
Stay tuned, as this will certainly not be the last you hear about CAKE.
