SoundCloud founder Alexander Ljung

Alexander Ljung and Eric Quidenus-Wahlforss started SoundCloud in 2007, seeking a way to do for music what YouTube (with its ubiquitous embedded player, which was a big deal when people visited websites other than Facebook and Instagram) did for video.

In the subsequent decade, SoundCloud burned through hundreds of millions of dollars in search of profitability and was nearly shut down for a lack of investors willing to continue funding the company’s bottomless pit of debt. In the Spring of 2017, a Singapore investment group threw SoundCloud a $170 million lifeline, which resulted in Ljung leaving the company he started.

Now they want to bring that magic to the burgeoning world of e-bike rentals.

Nick Summers of Engadget has an extensive piece on Ljung and Quidenus-Wahlforss’ latest venture – an e-bike subscription company with the too-cute-to-ever-actually-be-used name of “Dance.” (“I’m not sure how dancing relates to bicycles or electrified transportati[o]n,” Summers notes, “but never mind.”)

The company is starting in Berlin as an invite-only platform. With an invitation, you’ll have the honor of paying $68/month to “subscribe” to an e-bike. Summer quotes Quidenus-Wahlforss as saying:

“We are convinced that Dance provides the missing piece of the puzzle at the right time to accelerate a broad and lasting movement from individual car ownership to daily use of e-bikes.”

 

Dance is currently offering a “fairly generic-looking e-bike” but has a “strong in-house R&D team” working on what we can expect will be a great proprietary version that only works with a special keycard. You can read more about Alex and Eric’s Excellent E-Bike Venture at Engadget.

Photo: NEXT Conference from Berlin, Deutschland / CC BY