The future of Cake, an electric motorbike startup that recently filed for bankruptcy, remains uncertain. However, the majority of its inventory in the United States has found a new home with a man in Florida.
Michael Joyce, the owner of a retail store called Emoto in St. Petersburg, reveals that he has purchased all of the Cake Makka and Ösa motorbikes, as well as accessories and spare parts that were shipped to the US. Joyce did not purchase any of the remaining Cake Kalk electric motorcycles, which have been recalled due to safety concerns.
In an interview with TechCrunch, Joyce expresses his hope to keep the Swedish brand alive through this purchase. He shares, “The last thing I want as a dealer is for the consumer to feel abandoned and lose trust in the brand.” Joyce also has the support of a new startup called Bloom, based in Detroit, which will handle the inventory and shipping of the motorbikes – a sign of how the electric vehicle industry is adapting to the current situation.
The decision to file for bankruptcy came after Cake’s year-long attempt to secure a series C funding round. Even reaching out to companies like Harley-Davidson and traditional automakers yielded no results, according to founder and CEO Stefan Ytterborn.
The news of Cake’s bankruptcy came as a shock to Joyce, who also faced a risk as Cake was the only brand he sold at Emoto. By purchasing the inventory, Joyce now has a “six to 12” month runway, giving him time to negotiate with other companies to sell electric motorbikes.
Despite the initial challenges, Joyce is confident he can successfully sell the Cake inventory. After spending most of last year developing a sales and marketing strategy, he found success by taking the products on consignment. This allowed customers to interact with the products and boosted monthly sales.
However, the immediate concern for Joyce was what to do with the inventory he had purchased. After touring warehouses in Florida, he stumbled upon Bloom – a company launched last year by the founders of e-bike brands Propel and Vela, based in the Michigan Central mobility innovation district in Detroit.
Bloom’s goal is to alleviate some of the difficulties faced by startups in the electric vehicle space, by offering contract manufacturing, delivery, service, and logistics support. Co-founder Chris Nolte believes that this concept will gain more popularity as companies like Cake continue to struggle with vertical integration and the volatile market.
“With these brands, there was a push towards vertical integration, as seen with some of the bigger automotive players. However, the reality is that no one has the appropriate scale on their own, and the market is too unpredictable to handle on their own.”
While Joyce and Bloom are not yet ready to handle new sales, the inventory is currently being transported from Los Angeles to Bloom’s warehouse in Detroit. Once the inventory arrives, it will serve as a test for this new hybrid business model. Joyce’s vision is to build Emoto into a one-stop showroom for electric motorbikes, similar to the country’s largest powersports dealers.
In the short term, if Cake is able to restructure and continue operating, Joyce hopes to remain a partner in the new version of the company.
