It was quite the party. It was a rainy evening on May 23, but there was still a line of mountain biking enthusiasts that went out the door to get in to the YT Industries showroom in Bentonville, Ark. There was an open bar with beer, wine, and cocktails. Pro mountain bike rider and Red Bull athlete Matt Jones was in the mix, as was Walmart heir Tom Walton. Rappers Big Priv and Paul Wall performed. And the lineup of YT Industries bikes was on full display, propped up on chunky rocks and gravel for viewing on the first floor of the company’s double-story showroom.
German mountain bike startup YT Industries has quickly become one of the hottest brands in the sport. During COVID, when demand for bikes was at an all-time high, YT brought on a former Amazon executive to scale the brand, and it became one of more than 100 bike companies to make a big private equity deal (the global investment firm Ardian bought a majority stake of YT in 2021). By the looks of it, YT seemed to be riding the COVID-induced outdoor gear wave better than just about anyone, with splashy marketing campaigns and new showrooms where people can take out their bikes on trails for free and then come back and drink free beer.
Perhaps that’s why YT customers were shocked when its founder and CEO Markus Flossmann—who hopped back onto the CEO saddle last year—announced in a YouTube video last week that YT’s European operation had run out of funding and had to restructure.
It was a reality check of just how strapped things have gotten this year, post-Trump tariffs, for the biking industry, which has been heavily funded by venture and private equity dollars for several years. While COVID had led to unprecedented growth and purchases in the biking industry, the surge—then dropoff—in that demand left manufacturers and retailers with massive overstocks of bikes and parts to try and sell. This year, steep tariffs in the U.S. have compounded that pain, with a 43%-66% levy on bikes from China and Taiwan (the countries responsible for more than 70% of bike imports and most parts manufacturing) causing big players like Specialized and Trek to announce price hikes. Since there has been a temporary pause on reciprocal tariffs, levies could go up even higher.
In the last year, e-bike company Podbike and cargo bike company Butchers & Bicycles declared bankruptcy. Revel Bikes, which had been purchased by a private equity firm in 2021, ceased operations earlier this year, though its founder then turned around and bought back the operation to bring it back to life.
In YT’s case, you could have a lot of things at play with its insolvency. For one, I know I’ve sure gotten my money’s worth of free beer and bike demos. (YT, Flossman, and Ardion haven’t yet responded to the requests for comment I sent them yesterday.) Flossman said in his YouTube video that, in addition to tariffs and natural disasters in the U.S. which he said stymied demand, there was also a “key supplier” that had quality issues and delivery delays.
But however you look at it, the biking industry is under immense pressure right now. This year was supposed to see a resurgence of M&A deals: not back to the glory days of 2021 or 2022 when there were deals like Groupe Bruxelles Lambert buying Canyon or Pon Holdings acquiring Dorel Sports—but still an uptick. But that isn’t really happening. More than halfway through the year, there have been 134 deals for bike and bike-related companies, according to PitchBook, less than half of the 292 deals signed during all of 2024, and well below the glory days of 2022, when 427 deals were done. None of the deals announced this year have been worth more than $100 million, though Rivian did spin out a microbility company, according to public reports.
In YT’s case, I really hope they can turn things around. Their bikes are sick, and I sure like their free beer!
See you tomorrow,
Jessica Mathews
X: @jessicakmathews
Email: jessica.mathews@fortune.com
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VENTURE DEALS
- Nudge, a San Francisco-based developer of brain interface technology, raised $100 million in Series A funding led by Thrive Capital and Greenoaks.
- Ashby, a San Francisco-based recruiting platform, raised $50 million in Series D funding. Mark McLaughlin at Alkeon and Lachy Groom led the round and were joined by F-Prime, Elad Gil, Gaingels, and existing investors.
- xLight, a Palo Alto, Calif.-based builder of lasers for semiconductor manufacturing, raised $40 million in Series B funding. Playground Global led the round and was joined by Bordman Bay Capital Management, Morpheus Ventures, Marvel Capital, and IAG Capital Partners.
- inforcer, a London, U.K.-based software platform for Managed Service Providers, raised $35 million in Series B funding. Dawn Capital led the round and was joined by existing investor Meritech Capital.
- BetterComp, a San Francisco, Calif.-based provider of compensation management software, raised $33 million in Series A funding. Ten Coves Capital led the round.
- Delve, a San Francisco-based provider of AI agents for compliance, raised $32 million in Series A funding. Insight Partners led the round and was joined by others.
- Composio, a San Francisco-based developer of tools designed to help AI agents learn from experience, raised $25 million in Series A funding. Lightspeed Venture Partners led the round and was joined by existing investors Elevation Capital, Together Fund, and others.
- Poseidon, a San Francisco-based full-stack decentralized data layer built for AI training workflows, raised $15 million in seed funding. A16z crypto led the round.
- Provectus Algae, a Noosaville, Australia-based agriculture tech company, raised $10.1 million in Series A funding. At One Ventures led the round and was joined by Methane Mitigation, Mort & Co, and existing investors including Hitachi Ventures.
- Everlab, a Melbourne, Australia-based AI-powered health platform designed for preventive care, raised $10 million in seed funding. Left Lane Capital led the round.
- Nevoya, a San Francisco-based electric trucking carrier, raised $9.3 million in seed funding. Lowercarbon Capital led the round and was joined by Floating Point, LMNT Ventures, and existing investors Third Sphere, Stepchange, Never Lift, and others.
- Bitfount, a London, U.K.-based platform that allows health care providers and pharmaceutical companies to share clinical research data without violating privacy laws, raised $8 million in Series A funding from Parkwalk Advisors, Ahren Innovation Capital, Pace Ventures, Foresight Group, and Portfolio Ventures.
- OpenLaw, a San Francisco-based platform that uses AI to connect people with attorneys, raised $3.5 million in seed funding. Flint Capital and Slauson & Co. led the round and were joined by The LegalTech Fund, Mindful Venture Capital, Everywhere VC, and others.
- Credibur, a Berlin, Germany-based operating system for structured credit, raised $2.2 million in pre-seed funding. Redstone led the round and was joined by MS&AD Ventures, Inovia, and angel investors.
PRIVATE EQUITY
- TSG Consumer agreed to acquire PHLUR, an Austin, Texas-based fragrance brand. Financial terms were not disclosed.
EXITS
- Generous Brands agreed to acquire Health-Ade, a Los Angeles-based kombucha brand, from Manna Tree and First Bev for $500 million.
- Velocity Rail Solutions, a portfolio company of Wind Point Partners, acquired Liquid Tech Solutions, a Stoughton, Mass.-based provider of on-site mobile refueling solutions, from Lindsay Goldberg. Financial terms were not disclosed.
OTHER
- Xerox acquired Lexmark, a Lextington, Ky.-based printer company, from Ninestar Corporation, PAG Asia Capital and Shanghai Shouda Investment Centre, for $1.5 billion.
- ActiveOps acquired Enlighten, a Sydney-based workforce optimization software and professional services provider. Financial terms were not disclosed.
- Haiki acquired the battery and polypropylene recycling business of Ecobat, a Dallas-based battery recycler. Financial terms were not disclosed.
FUNDS + FUNDS OF FUNDS
- AN Venture Partners, a Tokyo and San Francisco-based venture capital firm, raised $200 million for its first fund focused on Japanese biotech.
PEOPLE
- AIX Ventures, a San Francisco-based venture capital firm, added Christopher Manning as a general partner. Previously, he was at the Stanford Artificial Intelligence Laboratory.
- Group 11, a Beverly Hills-based venture capital firm, promoted Hadas Sparfeld to partner.
