After being challenged by his father to see if he could design and produce an electric bike with that both looked and rode like a normal push bike, a young entrepreneur is edging towards the £390k target needed to turn his product prototype into a sellable range; which is proven to be the world’s lightest power to weight electric bike.
In order to secure the finances needed to create a range of e-bicycles, 29 year-old Neil MacMartin, founder of innovative product supplier FreeFlow Technologies, is pitching his business on Angels Den (www.angelsden.com).
Neil, whose father has run a bike shop in Glasgow for the past 39 years, first approached the team at Angels Den with a view to securing investment to help further his venture and initial prototype in the electrical bike marketplace.
The bike itself, the SALTIRE e-bicycle, looks like a typical push bike to the naked eye, and features a unique gearing system, motor, motor controller and battery which are all integrated into the down tube of the bike frame. As a result of this, the bike uses a third less raw material during its construction and would therefore be the lightest e-bike system on the market.
Upon completion of the funding efforts, money raised from Angels Den investors will be used to bring the patent published specialist gearing and motor control system to the market; along with setting up the licensing agreements and a robust supply chain for the further growth of product lines.
Neil made the following comments: “People stated to me that what I was trying to do is impossible and can’t be done. However, once they try what I have made and see how it works, they are usually left amazed. Most potential investors and customers do not need to know the complexities of how I have designed the bike, they just need to know that it rides like a normal bike when not powered, looks like a normal bike, is simple to get spare parts for and is easy to repair. The Saltire City is simply the most sophisticated e-bike built to date anywhere in the world.”
