That Bike is on a mission to put more electric bikes on the roads of Vietnam. The startup said today it has raised $8 million led by returning investor, Singapore-based Jungle Ventures, just seven months after announcing its first round of funding. GSR Ventures and Delivery Hero Ventures also participated in this round, along with Wavemaker Partners and Innoven Capital.
The new round brings Dat Bike’s total proceeds to $16.5 million. It will use its new funding for technology and product development, hiring for its sales, support, R&D and product teams, and building more capacity in its factories.
Dat Bike was founded in 2018 by Son Nguyen, who learned how to build bicycles from scrap while working as a software engineer in Silicon Valley. The company says sales have grown 10x in the past 12 months.
The bikes will be sold through three stores in Ho Chi Minh City, Hanoi and Da Nang, with more stores planned. It will expand to Quang Ninh, Hai Phong, Nha Trang, Binh Duong and Can Tho in the coming months.
Dat Bike is also available through online channels and stores, with plans to get a quick feedback loop to increase the speed of innovations and development in each release of its products.
Nguyen told businessroundups.org that since Dat Bike’s latest round of funding, it has scaled up its production capacity and go-to-market teams while continuing to invest in research and development. Dat Bike is also now available in all three regions of Vietnam.
Dat Bike’s customer strategy is to first provide an e-bike with good after-sales service, Nguyen said, and the goal is to switch petrol bike users to electric.
That Bike claims its latest model, the Weaver 200, has a range of 200 kilometers compared to 50 kilometers for most other electric bikes, and a charging time of one hour for 100 km and three hours for a full charge of 200 km, compared with 6 to 8 hours for other e-bikes.
The startup recently launched Dat Charge, a charging station for its bikes, which it says cuts charging time by a third. Dat Charge is currently available in downtown Ho Chi Minh City, with plans to expand it nationwide in the coming years.
In a statement on Jungle Ventures’ investment, Vice President My Tran said, “This is our third investment in Dat Bike and we continue to be amazed at the incredible execution by the team. The growth is testament to the electric future that Son is building with Dat Bike.”
