AUSTIN, Texas (BRAIN) — Upscale consumer-direct kids bike brand woom has merged its U.S. and European operations, saying the move will enhance supply chain and manufacturing capacities and eventually double its workforce globally.
According to a company release, merging strengthens woom's supply-chain capabilities at a time when the industry struggles to meet demand that began a year ago.
"Over the past seven years, we have built the foundation for the woom brand in the U.S. as a distributor," said Mathias Ihlenfeld, CEO of woom USA. "As one entity, we will now have the capabilities to serve the brand, team, and customers in the U.S., Europe, and globally much deeper, while realizing our mission at scale to empower children to fall in love with riding a bike."
Ihlenfeld brought woom to the U.S. in 2014, one year after the brand was founded in Vienna by his brother Marcus and Marcus' business partner Christian Bezdeka. Woom USA established itself as a digitally native brand, developing a direct-to-consumer model, and says it has an annual growth rate of over 50%. In 2020, woom USA was recognized for the second year in a row by Inc. 5000 as one of the fastest-growing privately held companies in the U.S., with a three-year growth rate of 742%.
By mid-2022, woom's workforce will double to 300 people worldwide, with 100 employees located in North America, the company said. The merger also will alter the management structure because of the new holding company uniting the operations. Mathias Ihlenfeld will become one of four managing directors of the new holding company. In addition, previous managing directors — Guido Dohm, Christian Bezdeka, and Marcus Ihlenfeld — will belong to the management of the holding company.
The merger also is expected to enhance innovation, Marcus Ihlenfeld said. Woom will continue to develop e-commerce and customer experience capabilities globally and support more product development and tailoring products to regional needs.
"It is truly an honor to see our dream of building a better bicycle for children become a reality," Bezdeka said. "We have improved the lives of over a million children and families, and this is a milestone moment as we organize the brand globally to support our vision of becoming the most favored children's bike in the world."
