E-bike manufacturer Cowboy: Crowdfunders have likely lost their money

Contents

The planned rescue of Belgian e-bike manufacturer Cowboy by the French Rebirth Group has apparently not yet been finalized, although it was recently said that the deal should be completed by October, according to Cowboy CTO Tanguy Goretti. Now it is also said that the nearly 8,000 crowdfunders who supported Cowboy have probably lost their money.

Restructuring

This is reported by the Belgian newspaper De Tijd (Paywall), which received corresponding information from the British crowdfunding platform Crowdcube. The newspaper writes that the previous investors and small shareholders could lose their shares almost entirely through the restructuring.

According to the report, the Rebirth Group's restructuring plan envisages largely expropriating Cowboy's existing shareholders. All existing shares are to be converted into non-voting shares with a minimal value. It is said that the previous investors will collectively hold only 4.99 percent of the company's shares. The crowdfunders, who have invested over 10 million euros in the company over five financing rounds, will only make up a fraction of this. Among the previous shareholders are also major investors such as Index Ventures and Exor, who had invested more than 134 million euros in Cowboy since 2017. Despite a peak valuation of 172 million euros in 2022, the company is now valued at zero as part of the rescue plan.

High Debt Burden

Cowboy has struggled with significant difficulties in recent years, including supply bottlenecks, quality problems, a recall, and a continuously growing debt burden of millions. The annual report for 2024, published in September 2025, painted a devastating picture: revenue fell by 30 percent to 21.7 million euros, compared to more than 40 million euros in 2022. Losses increased from 19.4 to 21.2 million euros. This means that Cowboy made almost as high losses as revenue. Since the company's founding in 2017, cumulative losses have already amounted to over 123 million euros. Equity is minus 43 million euros, while the debt burden has increased from 43 million euros in 2023 to 56 million euros now. The year 2024 was supposed to herald a turnaround for Cowboy and bring the company into the black.

Strengthen capital structure "Significantly"

It is said that the upcoming agreement with Rebirth aims to "significantly strengthen" Cowboy's capital structure. Cowboy's restructuring also includes renegotiations with the main creditor and new financing, which is largely intended for the production and delivery of spare parts. This area has been massively restricted in recent months.

With the investments of the Rebirth Group, which has been manufacturing bicycles for Cowboy in France since the beginning of this year, the Belgian bicycle manufacturer is to be stabilized, according to another report from Zag Daily. The medium speaks of a deeper integration into the Rebirth Group, "which should enable quality control, lead times, and scalability through the European and Asian supplier networks". On Reddit, some users are already reporting that spare parts and bicycles ordered months ago are being shipped and bikes are being delivered.

Cowboy further assumes that the Rebirth Group "will enable shorter and more competitive delivery times from 2026 onwards, while the remaining order backlog can be processed at the beginning of next year". The company describes this as a "clean restart of operations".

It is further stated that the partnership will also expand Cowboy's physical presence in France by allowing the bicycle manufacturer to use Rebirth's retail and service network with over 500 independent bicycle dealers. Rebirth also plans to deploy Cowboy's technology group-wide. The group already has several bicycle brands under its umbrella, such as Solex, Matra, Easybike, Peugeot (the bike brand only), or Gitane.

According to Zag Daily, Cowboy will continue to operate independently from its headquarters in Brussels with its internal design, engineering, and software teams. The company's management is expected to work closely with Rebirth in the future to manage the transition, the report said.

(afl)