Berlin — Startup DANCE, from the founders of Soundcloud and Jimdo, wins Eurazeo and other prominent angel investors focused on sustainable investment: after a successful launch of its e‑bike subscription service in Berlin, Dance has raised an additional €16.5 million from new investors. — Joining the event are Eurazeo, one of the leading global investment companies, as well as other renowned angel investors, including Verena Pausder, founder of the digital children’s studio Fox & Sheep and education expert, Roxanne Varza, director of STATION F, a leading startup incubator in Paris, Nicolas Berggruen, philanthropist, founder of the Berggruen Institute and Noema Magazine, Dave Morin and James Higa, co-founders of Offline Ventures.
After a year of piloting and testing, Dance officially rolled out its subscription service in Berlin at the end of August, delivering hundreds of EBikes to its members. The new funding will be used to continue scaling the company, including doubling the size of the team with employees with expertise in operations, engineering and sustainability. Roll-out to other European cities is planned for the coming months. The startup’s goal is to create a global movement that makes cities more livable — urban spaces for people, not cars.
“One of our priorities at Eurazeo is to make investments that contribute to the decarbonization of the planet by 2040. Investing in a solution like Dance is absolutely in line with this mission,” says Matthieu Bonamy, Partner at Eurazeo. “Dance is enabling cities around the world to change for the better: By scaling their user-friendly, holistic and sophisticated approach, we can encourage more people to consistently choose to go green while driving positive change in their communities,” Bonamy said.
Verena Pausder, founder of the digital children’s studio Fox & Sheep and education expert, says: “Climate change presents us all with unprecedented challenges.
challenges that have never been faced before. Bold and user-friendly innovations are urgently needed to help us contribute to closing the climate gap. The vision behind Dance convinced me immediately. I look forward to helping the startup make cities more climate-friendly, healthier, and ultimately more livable.”
“We’ve seen Paris, Milan, Brussels and other metropolitan areas invest heavily in improving their cycling infrastructure. Eurazeo has recognized that, together with us, they can fundamentally change the way we get around in our society — in a low-threshold and user-friendly way. We are proud to welcome them and other new angel investors as part of Dance’s movement to focus on creating more sustainable cities,” said Eric Quidenus-Wahlforss, co-founder and CEO of Dance.
To stay up to date on when Dance launches in your region, follow the hashtag #movewithdance as well as our profiles on Instagram, Twitter and LinkedIn.
About Dance
Dance is a premium subscription service for EBikes based in Berlin. The company’s goal is to create a movement that makes cities more livable — urban spaces for people, not cars. Dance combines beautifully designed EBikes with a fast all-round service and turns everyday transportation into a healthy, environmentally friendly experience that is also fun. The monthly subscription offers members maximum flexibility to discover this new form of urban mobility for themselves. Currently, Dance’s subscription service is available to members in Berlin.Dance was founded by SoundCloud founders Eric Quidenus-Wahlforss and Alexander Ljung, along with Jimdo founder Christian Springub. Investors include BlueYard, HV Capital and Eurazeo. www. dance.co.
About Eurazeo
Eurazeo is a leading global investment firm with €25.6 billion in assets under management — including €17.8 billion from third-party investors — invested in a diversified portfolio of approximately 450 companies. With extensive investment experience in private equity, private debt, real estate and infrastructure, Eurazeo supports companies of all sizes. A team of nearly 300 professionals with deep sector expertise and access to global markets responsibly supports portfolio companies in their development and provides them with a stable platform for transformative growth. The solid shareholder structure, consisting of institutional investors and families, in combination with a robust, structurally debt-free balance sheet and a flexible investment horizon enable Eurazeo to accompany portfolio companies over the long term. Eurazeo has offices in Paris, New York, São Paulo, Seoul, Shanghai, Singapore, London, Luxembourg, Frankfurt, Berlin and Madrid. Eurazeo is listed on Euronext Paris.