VivaTech 2022 had plenty to get cycle fans in a spin about. But one innovation that stood out for Silicon this year was cycleWASH.
Established in Cologne, Germany, by engineer Sachin Kumar, the premise tackles a first-world problem but a problem nonetheless: how to wash your bike!
“I had an expensive bike and I said if there is no solution, I will build one,” the entrepreneur told Silicon at VivaTech. “So I had a vision of creating completely new market segments for cleaning bikes.”
Six years since founding the firm, cycleWASH has four different mobile bike wash products, which run on solar power and require a single litre of rainwater to clean the bikes.
Already with four patents, the innovative machines are designed to use a number of different technologies including digital payment systems and IoT, among others.
The machines can be found in 15 different countries, with Germany being a key market: Kumar says there is sufficient demand there for 15,000 units.
And he could be about to add a sixteenth country to the list as the firm founder has been in talks with a Luxembourg commune interested in acquiring a cycleWASH machine.
Clients cover the gamut of the cycle world, spanning hotels and trails to large employers offering staff cycle schemes.
“This is something that people really want. I know that because we go to close to 500 events per year and no matter where I am, the question is always: ‘where can I wash my bike?’ So this is something people need and it makes them happy,” said Kumar
