Climate CEOs: Scaling Startups Sustainable Mobility: $60M from Sequoia. 80,000 E-bikes Sold. 40% discounts. 100+ Manufacturers.
Oct 6, 2025
In this engaging discussion, Toussaint Hueting, Co-founder and CEO of Upwayâa marketplace for refurbished e-bikesâshares his journey from Uber to climate tech. He highlights the potential of e-bikes to replace short car trips, addressing misconceptions about weather's impact on adoption. With over 80,000 bikes sold and $60M raised from Sequoia, Toussaint explains Upway's unique approach of combining e-bike resale with vertical integration for quality assurance. He also offers career advice on team selection and maintaining focus through healthy habits.
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Short Car Trips Are E-Bike Gold
- 50% of car trips are under five miles and are ideal candidates for e-bike substitution.
- This reveals a massive modal-shift opportunity to replace short car trips with e-bikes.
EâBikes Are Already Mainstream
- There are already over 40 million e-bikes in circulation across Europe and the U.S.
- That existing installed base makes a large secondhand market and immediate climate impact potential.
Infrastructure Trumps Weather
- Weather matters less than safe infrastructure and equipment for bike adoption.
- Countries with harsh climates but good infrastructure still see high bike mode share.
