Bike Club CEO & Founder James Symes joins host Prabin Joel Jones to share how a side hustle renting kids’ bikes turned into one of Europe’s fastest-growing mobility subscription companies. From maxed-out credit cards and home deliveries to 70,000 members across the UK and Germany, James breaks down Bike Club’s business model, lessons from scaling, the realities of profitability, and why circularity works when done right.Bike Club founder and CEO James Symes shares the remarkable journey of turning a weekend side hustle into a leading subscription platform for children’s bikes - now serving 70,000 members across the UK and Germany.

In this candid conversation with Prabin Joel Jones, host of the Micromobility Podcast, James talks about:

• Founding Bike Club while working full-time at KPMG
• Building an MVP on Squarespace and personally delivering bikes across England
• Growing through the challenges of fundraising, supply chain, and profitability
• Expanding to Germany and Spain — and what he learned from shutting Spain down
• How circular economy principles really work in practice
• Why Bike Club could one day merge with companies like Swapfiets or Dance
• The future of kids’ bike subscriptions, cashflow profitability, and the path to 100,000 members

Chapters:

00:00 – Intro & announcement: Micromobility Europe 2026

00:58 – What is Bike Club?

01:26 – Founding story: “The world’s worst side hustle”

03:15 – Early challenges, cash crunch & the first seed round

05:05 – The first pitch deck & fundraising journey

07:23 – Why kids’ bikes? The circular business model explained

10:06 – Balance bikes, refurbishing, and the circular supply chain

12:24 – Inside Bike Club’s refurbishment facilities

13:37 – How Bike Club differs from Swapfiets & Dance

15:35 – How often do kids upgrade their bikes?

17:38 – The customer lifecycle & retention

20:25 – Churn, seasonality, and customer engagement

22:07 – Revenue per user & profitability goals

26:13 – Learning sustainable growth vs hyper-growth

27:36 – Fundraising: from angels to private equity

30:21 – Expansion into Germany and Spain (and why Spain didn’t work)

35:36 – Why Bike Club isn’t yet in the Netherlands

39:07 – Can Bike Club expand into adult bikes?

40:29 – Growth strategy and focus markets

41:13 – Relationship with bike manufacturers

44:18 – Building Bike Club’s own bikes

45:29 – Reflections: mistakes, maturity, and lessons learned

47:17 – Industry consolidation and the path to a billion-dollar valuation

52:26 – On profitability and learning hard lessons

53:38 – James’ leadership and management style

56:16 – Future vision: 100,000 members & profitability by 2027

58:25 – Closing thoughts & Micromobility Europe Berlin 2026

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