It looks promising for the team behind Lock8 – a smart bicycle lock and bike-sharing platform. The Berlin and London-based startup has landed a seven-digit investment from Horizons Ventures and Otto Capital as well as achieved its Kickstarter goal ahead of schedule.
Horizons Ventures, based in Hong Kong and backed by Li Ka-Shing, one of the richest people in Asia, is best-known for previous investments in Facebook, Spotify, Summly (sold to Yahoo), Waze and Skype. Previous deals for Otto Capital include Bloomy Days.
“We are extremely happy about this investment round and the expertise we gained with our board members. We will now be able to roll out very quickly in the US and Europe,” said Lock8 CEO Franz Salzmann.
Founded by Salzmann and Daniel Zajarias-Fainsod, Lock8 offers an electronic key allowing users to lock and unlock their bikes using its mobile app. The hardware-software duo also features GPS tracking and smart sensors, which activate a 120 decibel alarm when the bicycle is tampered with. For now, Kickstarter backers can buy a lock for about $140, but the price will be pushed up to $199 after the campaign.
San Francisco-based project BitLock, which successfully funded its Kickstarter campaign earlier this month, provides a similar keyless lock system.
Lock8 recently took home the “Disrupt Cup” and €40,000 in prize money at the inaugural TechCrunch Disrupt Europe conference in October.