Episode 76 of the Brap Talk motorcycle podcast is out with another “weekly” episode, for your two-wheeled listening pleasure.
In this episode, we tackle a slew of motorcycle-related topics, and look mostly at some of the new machines that are cropping up for the 2022 model year.
Swedish electric motorcycle/moped maker CAKE has just announced the closing of a $60 million funding round, which will help the company scale its production and bolster retail and service locations for the two-wheeled brand.
According to the company’s press release, the fundraising was done via two convertible notes (financial debt instruments that can be turned into equity stakes in the company, at a later time), totaling $14 million and $46 million each.
The bulk of the financing came from Swedish pension fund AMF, while the rest of the funding came from several investors, led by current CAKE shareholders Creandum and Headline.
Swedish mobility company Cake has made a name for itself by creating intriguing two-wheelers that are so damn purposeful in their design that they take on a functional beauty of their own.
Their debut bike, the Cake Kalk& was lauded for this design ethos, though its $14,000 was a deal-stopper for many. The sub-$10,000 Cake Kalk Ink helped things in that regard, but the Swedish brand has still been on the pricier side of the market.
Responding to those feelings, the Swedes have a new, more affordable two-wheeler on the market now.
Say hello to the Cake Makka, which is a downright utilitarian Scandinavian moto that starts at $3,800.
Cake Kalk INK, Cake Kalk INK, Cake Kalk INK…say that three times fast. This Beetlejuice of electric motorcycles is the epitome of the growing “not a motorcycle” segment of the motorcycle industry, which is straddling the divide that sees bicycles on the other side of it.
This is of course nothing new for the Swedish company Cake, which has been working on its e-mopeds since 2016. Now, we have the latest iteration of the Kalk series, the Cake Kalk INK, which tackles perhaps the biggest criticism of the Kalk line: its price tag.
Coming with a price of $9,500 MSRP, the Cake Kalk INK still isn’t as cheap as many would like, but it does fit in the pricing scheme of being just above high-end e-bikes and just under pricing of potent electric dirt bikes.