Swytch Technology, an e-bike conversion kit startup, leveraged crowdshopping strategy to scale the company without any VC funding.

 

Swytch Technology, an e-bike conversion kit startup, leveraged crowdshopping strategy to scale the company without any VC funding.   The firm started with a crowdfunding campaign in 2017 on the Indiegogo platform before pivoting to a crowdshopping strategy, which allows potential users to pay a deposit for a product to be delivered at a future date. The British startup has shipped 70,000 units globally, with an additional 1.5 million customers on its waitlist.  Swytch makes an e-bike conversion kit that provides 10 miles of range on one hour of recharge time.  The crowdshopping strategy enables the firm to start manufacturing the product based on demand, thereby eliminating the need to hold too much inventory.  CEO Oliver Montague said the strategy helped the firm avoid crowdfunding and VC funding pitfalls.  The firm intends to unlock the next level of growth through partnerships and new product offerings.