All parents know it: the French Yoyo stroller revolutionized the sector, especially thanks to an ingenious folding system and its lightness. Gilles Henry, its inventor, today launches Bastille, a new brand of folding bicycles.
Its added value? Unlike the competition, Bastille “is a real bicycle that folds with big wheels,” underlines this Monday on the set of Good Morning Business, Gilles Henry, a worshiper of the “folded”, as he defines himself.
The idea was to adapt the simplicity of folding the Yoyo stroller to an urban bicycle. Therefore, Bastille can be folded and unfolded in less than 10 seconds according to its manufacturer. Folded, it fits in the trunk of a car or in a closet.
Folds and unfolds in less than 10 seconds
“When you transform a folding operation into something fun and spectacular, the object and the experience are transformed. From the beginning I told myself that I wanted to do the same with the bicycle,” explains Gilles Henry.
A real challenge since a bicycle is much more complex to fold than a stroller. “We are targeting people who would like to switch to cycling but who have a real problem in the city: the storage and theft of bicycles,” continues Gilles Henry, specifying that the technology used required “eight years of work.”
Bastille is manufactured in France and sells for 2,590 euros. This new bike has been on pre-order since early October for delivery in mid-2024.
To carry out this project, “we raised 10 million euros from two investment funds Eutopia and Ankaa Ventures and it is a project that I was able to finance myself thanks to the Yoyo,” explains its inventor.
Source: BFM TV
