TORONTO (BRAIN) — Vanhawks, a Canadian company that makes a bike with integrated safety and navigational features, is entering the U.S. IBD market. The company has recently hired a vice president of sales, Jon Kameen. The brand's first U.S. IBD customer is Mike's Bikes, which has 12 locations in the San Francisco Bay Area.
Ken Martin, the founder and CEO of Mike's Bikes, is also serving as an advisor to the company. "Vanhawks is a great fit for our customer," Martin said. "The product is truly innovative and I believe they will be helping to move our industry forward."
Vanhawks was launched in 2014 on Kickstarter, where it raised more than $800,000 CAD. Vanhawks CEO Ali Zahid said the company has decided that IBD sales make the most sense for the brand, which is targeting the Bay Area for initial sales.
"Direct sales are convenient for the customer," said Zahid. "But, there is no replacing the level of service you receive from an expert shop like Mike's Bikes. We quickly learned from our customer that these partnerships are crucial to offering the best possible experience."
Kameen joins Vanhawks with over 10 years of industry sales experience, including heading up sales for PON Bike Group North America.
Kameen said. "With how the industry is evolving, I'm excited to join a brand that is helping to bridge the gap to the new, more connected world. ... Consumers can now benefit from connectivity and data acquisition. At the same time retailers benefit by full value-chain line of sight which reduces inventory commitments, increases inventory turns, and facilitates post-sale communication with the user for follow up sales and scheduled maintenance. It's an exciting time to be in the industry. "
Vanhawks currently offers one model, the Valour, a carbon frame flat-bar road bike that can connect to the rider's cell phone via a mobile app to provide features including turn-by-turn directions, automatic ride data, blind-spot alerts and in-app support. More information at vanhawks.com.
