Novus raised a double-digit million euro round led by 468 Capital, an unusually early bet on a hardware company.
Elon Musk wanted to buy the Novus prototype after its CES appearance, and the founders quit their jobs afterwards.
Renger says Novus only felt on track after vehicle approval, warning that many startups failed to certify their vehicles.
Novus wants to be the Tesla of two-wheelers
Novus is betting that its Lightbike can do for two-wheelers what Tesla did for cars. It starts premium and aims at car licence holders rather than motorcycle riders. Auto industry veterans supply credibility and production know-how, while certification and a design built for fast assembly turn a prototype into a product.
Takeaways
Novus bets technology will disrupt two-wheelers like cars. Krieger argues technology can do to two-wheelers what Tesla did to cars, since 90 to 95 percent of them are still not electrified. The Lightbike sits between e-bike, scooter and motorcycle and rides 130 km/h on the Autobahn.
The target buyer holds a car licence. Renger says the design appeals emotionally to car drivers, who cannot identify with conventional motorcycles. Novus counts roughly 400m car licence holders worldwide, and says car sales run about 30 times motorcycle sales each year.
Premium first, cheaper models later. Renger follows Tesla's Roadster path, starting near 30,000 euros gross and planning cheaper second and third models through carry-over parts. Krieger says Novus will not compete with 3,000 to 4,000 euro vehicles from China and India.
Vehicle approval was the real proof of progress. Renger says Novus only felt on track once it had approval and registration, because many promising startups failed to certify their vehicles. The prototype dated from around 2018 or 2019, and Musk's wish to buy it preceded the founders quitting their jobs.
Auto industry veterans give the hardware bet credibility. Shareholders include executives from Audi, BMW, Lucid and Tesla but no two-wheeler maker. Rupert Stadler, Audi's chief for 11 years, is one. Eric Bach brought three vehicles to market at Tesla. Over 40 shareholders joined, a third via LinkedIn.
A single-piece frame and skin simplifies production. Frame and outer skin form one component made in one process step. Novus says this allows much faster assembly and avoids automated lines costing hundreds of millions, which matters for a hardware startup with limited capital.
Deposits tested demand and did not fund production. Customers paid 150 euros for a product still two years from market. Krieger says the sums were too small and unfair to use for production. Early prototypes could corner at about 40 km/h but not go fast.
What comes next for Novus
Renger's near-term target is four-digit production volumes.
The first 100 customers receive individually designed Masterpiece vehicles and 1 percent of virtual company shares.
Novus plans a visibility campaign in Los Angeles at the end of November.
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On this episode 4
Show 1
A New York campaign follows in December, where the team hopes to find introductions.