Upway, the Parisian firm that has been selling reconditioned e-bikes, has just raised another €23m. The firm, which currently operates in France and Belgium, is planning to expand into Germany, the Netherlands and the US before the end of the year.

Upway was founded last year by Toussaint Wattinne and Stephane Ficaja, former executives from Uber and Uber Eats.

It’s essentially a second-hand marketplace for e-bikes, but with the reassurance that everything has been reconditioned to industry standards and comes with a one-year warranty.

“With Upway, we are removing the barriers to purchasing electric bikes once and for all by providing a wide range of models that have been reconditioned in France, at affordable prices and which can be ordered online, for delivery to your home,” explained Wattinne.

Almost a quarter of bikes sold in France are now e-bikes, but high prices, long lead times and simple availability remain issues for many.

Or, as investor Luciana Lixandru put it last year: “Supply hasn’t scaled with demand and millions of consumers are looking for reliable second-hand electric vehicles.”

EU-Startups reports that Upway has seen its sales surge by 600 per cent since the start of the year, a period during which it has doubled its workforce.

As e-bikes become more common, we are also seeing growth in other areas beyond initial sales.

We reported earlier this month that the Netherlands’ e-bike maintenance market is now worth €200m a year with even the likes of KwikFit getting in on the action with e-bike servicing set to be rolled out nationwide.

Similarly, Dutch-based Heskon Accu, which specialises in e-bike battery repairs and refurbishment, now employs 50 members of staff.

While batteries are generally of far better quality than they were in the early days of the industry, they do inevitably deteriorate over time and so with e-bike sales booming, demand for this service is surely set to grow further.

> Old worn-out e-bike batteries: repair, recycle, refurbish or replace?