Cowboy e-bikes rescued from collapse thanks to rescue deal

E-bike company Cowboy has secured short-term financing that would allow its operations to go back to normal after a period it describes as the “most challenging in [its] history.” The company has revealed that it has signed a term sheet with a new partner, Rebirth, which it believes would pave the way for long-term stability. As The Verge notes, Rebirth is the parent of ReCycles, the prominent French manufacturer that took over bike assembly for Cowboy back in February.

For quite some time, the company’s fate was up in the air. Cowboy explained that over the past couple of years, it has been hit by several problems that are plaguing the whole industry, including the post-COVID shifts in the demand for e-bikes and massive supply chain problems. On top of those, it had to launch a recall for some of its Cruiser ST bikes when their frames started to crack after 2,500 kilometers (1,553 miles), which Cowboy said “added strain to an already difficult time.” It explained that the issue was caused by one of its suppliers making an unauthorized change to the bikes.

Cowboy has admitted that due to the issues it faced, customers experienced a lot of delays and that it wasn’t able to communicate things with them clearly. Now that it has secured financing, the first replacement frames for the recalled bikes have finally arrived from its supplier and it was able to start operating its first recall center, with more to follow in the summer. “We are not yet where we want to be, but we are here,” the company said in the email it has sent its customers. “Still standing. Still fighting. And more determined than ever.”