Accell hired VanMoof's founders for Raleigh after refusing to fund their e-bike startup

Accell Group is a Dutch cycling giant owning more than a dozen bicycle brands including Batavus, Sparta, Carqon and Raleigh.

Ties and Taco Carlier founded VanMoof in Amsterdam in 2009 as an alternative to Big Bike. The heavily funded startup went bankrupt in 2023 — the cofounders had approached rival Accell Group in 2022 seeking capital to offset almost €150 million in debt, and Accell reportedly turned them down. VanMoof re-emerged that year under McLaren Applied, without its founders.

The brothers went to work at Accell Group. Over the following year, brand-less e-bike prototypes were spotted around Amsterdam — sometimes near one brother's home — matching leaked images of a Raleigh-branded commuter e-bike. Accell Brand Lead Ertu Bilgin said the bike was developed with help from 'some former VanMoof team members' but is 'very much a product of the Accell Group'.

The first Raleigh e-bike developed with the VanMoof cofounders neared completion by June 2025: integrated lighting, hauling options and a phone mount, with a removable battery, belt drive and a motor moved to the rear wheel — an e-bike The Verge called very VanMoof-ish, only better, closely resembling the Tenways CGO009.

Accell declined to invest in VanMoof in 2022 when the cofounders needed capital against nearly €150M of debt, then hired the founders after the bankruptcy.

The Raleigh e-bike keeps VanMoof's integrated-commuter DNA while fixing its known flaws: removable battery, belt drive, rear-hub motor.

Accell framed the project as its own — 'very much a product of the Accell Group' — with the founders credited only as help from 'some former VanMoof team members'.

The development ran openly in Amsterdam for a year, with prototypes spotted near the brothers' homes before any official announcement.

When a startup drowns, its founders' craft stays valuable: Accell refused to buy the distressed asset but hired its makers — skipping the debt and keeping the design talent.

As of June 18, 2025, the first Raleigh e-bike developed with the Carlier brothers was nearing completion, with leaked images already circulating. VanMoof itself continued under McLaren Applied ownership, selling 2025 models like the S6 without its founders.