SEATTLE (BRAIN) — Rad Power Bikes announced that CEO Phil Molyneux will leave the brand and also confirmed its sixth workforce reduction, with this round affecting its direct-to-consumer sales staff as it continues to pivot more toward Rad Retail and local bike shops.
Molyneux, who has been with Rad Power since 2022 and succeeded founder Mike Radenbaugh, will remain with the company and work with CFO Stephanie Roberts, who will assume the role of interim CEO until the search for a replacement is completed. Before joining Rad Power, Molyneux was a regional president of Dyson and president/chief operating officer of Sony Electronics.
"The best experience for our customers is when they can see and test ride our e-bikes at a local bike shop or Rad Retail location near them," a Rad Power spokesperson said in an email to BRAIN. "Our Rad Retail and retail partner teams remain fully intact and ready to support new and existing riders, as well as local bike shops."
Last March, BRAIN spoke with Molyneux for an April issue story, and he said the brand most known for its D2C sales channel was actively recruiting shops. There are more than 1,000 Rad Retail and authorized service partners in North America. However, in 2023, it closed its New York Rad Retail location. That same year, it closed its European operations.
"We're putting a significant investment into this direction in terms of tech development, for ease of ordering and investing in, and additional people to support the channel," Molyneux told BRAIN for the April issue. "We have a dedicated call center. Part of the call center is dedicated to the local bike shops for service or support and queries in general. So I think we've made some good progress in that direction. And we'd welcome other local bike shops to reach out to us if they're interested in engaging and representing Rad and having a partnership together for mutual benefit."
Last September, Rad Power said its bikes will be sold at 150 Best Buy stores and BestBuy.com. The company also announced it had hired bike industry veteran George Lee as director of sales. Lee will speak at CABDA Expo West on March 26-27.
Rad Power also did not say how many employees were affected in its previous layoff in July 2024. Following the reduction of about 100 employees in April 2022, Rad Power laid off another 63 three months later, and in December 2022, an undisclosed number were let go. In April 2023, Rad Power had another round of layoffs.
It's been quite a struggle for the brand after it received a $25 million funding round in February 2020 led by Vulcan Capital and Durable Capital Partners LP. Vulcan Capital is the investment arm of Vulcan Inc., the company founded by Microsoft co-founder and philanthropist Paul Allen. Then existing investors added another $154 million in October 2021. Since its inception, Rad Power received financing totaling $329 million, which it claimed made it the best-funded direct-to-consumer e-bike company in the world.
After assuming control of Rad Power for only a couple of months, Molyneux emailed customers admitting his company's shortcomings and vowing to learn from them. Since 2022, Rad Power has been the subject of numerous lawsuits. A year ago, Rad Power introduced thermal-runaway resistant battery technology and four new e-bike models with added safety features. In 2023, it announced all of its e-bikes (2849) and lithium-ion batteries (2271) will meet UL certification going forward. Also in 2023, it joined with Redwood Materials to recycle its end-of-life lithium-ion batteries.
