Munich Startup: Who are you and what do you do? Please introduce yourselves briefly!
Buy cycle: We are three friends and sports enthusiasts living in Munich. We met while studying and playing sports, and we often ride road bikes together. That's when we came up with the idea for Buycycle.
About us:
Florian Senoner: Flo is 30 years old and comes from South Tyrol. He studied environmental management in Bolzano and then worked as a sustainability consultant for five years. He developed concepts and strategies to make corporate processes more sustainable. At Buycycle, he ensures sustainable processes. He is also responsible for finance and operations.
Jonas Jäger: Jonas is from Hanover and is 29 years old. He studied mechanical engineering at the Technical University of Munich and subsequently worked as a management consultant. Last year, he worked for a software startup that introduces digital problem-solving to manufacturing companies. At Buycycle, Jonas takes on the role of CTO – he is responsible for the product and the associated user experience.
Theodor Golditchuk: Theo grew up in Berlin and is 30 years old. He studied mechanical engineering at the Technical University of Munich. After completing his studies, he worked for five years as a management consultant, focusing on digitalization and optimization of business processes. His focus at Buycycle is on marketing and sales.
Get unused bikes out of the basement
Munich Startup: What problem does your startup solve?
Buy cycle: Since the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic, the road bike market has been booming – as a result, there are virtually no new road bikes available. Manufacturers are out of stock. Buycycle, an online marketplace for selling and buying used road bikes, aims to ease this supply shortage. We see two major advantages in the current situation:
- The potential for the used market has grown as there is a shortage of bikes for buyers and potential sellers can sell their bikes at good, realistic prices.
- Many people are starting to ride road bikes – and we're convinced that it doesn't always have to be a new bike; there are plenty of unused bikes sitting in German basements. With our platform, we want to leverage this untapped potential and make private trading in road bikes easy, secure, and fast. This way, we want to help more people get started with road cycling and contribute to protecting the environment and resources.
Between online marketplace and intermediaries
Munich Startup: But that's been around for a long time!
BuycycleYes, there are platforms for selling and/or buying used racing bikes, but they only work to a limited extent. Essentially, there are two competitors and differences.
First, there are online marketplaces: eBay Classifieds, Quoka, etc., are highly visited sites for exchanging goods. They thrive primarily on the large number of users and the resulting wide range of products. However, for a premium road bike, these sites only partially function. The problems and our approaches to them in detail:
Search: On existing platforms, you can find racing bikes among razors, books, and furniture. The descriptions and images are sometimes incomplete. Using a database of racing bike models from the last 20 years, the listings on Buycycle have a standardized structure and descriptions. This creates an online shop look with a structured search function. Additionally, sellers can create their listings with just a few clicks.
Communication: Many unnecessary messages between potential sellers and buyers. Buycycle manages communication and organizes the exchange of information between users.
Secured payment: Sometimes you have to exchange large sums of money without security. This carries the risk of not receiving the goods. We want to solve this problem by offering secure payments on our platform. There is no cap on the secured payment.
Shipping: It's a lot of work for sellers to procure packaging materials and organize shipping. Often, the only option is to pick up the bike yourself. Buycycle delivers the packaging materials to the seller's home and picks up the wrapped bike from their doorstep. The seller is stress-free, and the buyer doesn't have to spend the weekend in the car.
Returns: Road bike beginners, in particular, are unsure about purchasing an expensive bike. Returns are currently not permitted for private sales. We're closing this gap. You can return incorrect or damaged bikes to Buycycle. We'll then handle the return process with the seller.
And secondly, there are the middlemen: Bicycle dealers have recognized the weaknesses of online marketplaces described above. They have built platforms like Bikesale. These offer extensive functionality for buyers (secured payment, shipping, returns, etc.). However, these online bicycle dealers require a lot of capital to purchase bicycles and/or they usually only acquire their used racing bikes through bike shops. Furthermore, they focus on all types of bicycles (from city bikes to mountain bikes). As a result, these sites usually have only a small selection of used racing bikes.
We now want to combine the advantages of both competing groups: the functionality of an online marketplace for connecting private and commercial sellers and buyers with the essential advantages of a bicycle dealer. We hope this will provide a broad offering with high-level user functionality specific to road bikes.
Financing strategy and legal issues
Munich Startup: What have been your three biggest challenges so far?
Buycycle:
- The financing strategy – that is, the question of how we will cover the capital requirements for the start-up. We opted for a mix of equity and a start-up loan (and fortunately, we also had one approved by a bank).
- The transition between previous jobs and Buycycle – giving up secure salaries to work on the big goal with financial uncertainty.
- Familiarization with unfamiliar topics – From legal issues to accounting, we've familiarized ourselves with some new topics and certainly made mistakes along the way. But it's precisely this learning that allows us to grow personally outside of our comfort zone.
Munich Startup: How are things going?
Buycycle: Our website goes online in mid-May. So far, we have only conducted test purchases.
Munich is passionate about racing bikes
Munich Startup: How do you rate Munich as a startup location?
Buycycle: Very good! We found coworking spaces, startup programs, business case competitions, potential investors, and a broad community of founders. Our acceptance into the LMU Accelerator program provided us with valuable input on building our company within the first few weeks. We also benefited from a large network of service providers (from programmers to marketing agencies), experts, and students.
Additionally, Munich is a passionate cyclist. This allows us to test and further develop our products, services, and marketing campaigns in the local market.
Munich Startup: Ascent or descent?
Buycycle: Definitely an increase. But that's easy to say when you're just getting started.
