EIB provides €10 million to Blubrake for innovation in sustainable mobility
PRESS RELEASE
2022-447-EN
29 November 2022
The anti-lock braking system (ABS) solutions developed by Blubrake make light electric vehicles (LEVs) safer, significantly reducing road accidents and facilitating the adoption of alternative means of transport that contribute to the development of more sustainable mobility, such as e-bikes.
The EIB funding will help expand the adoption of ABS technology in the e-bike market, supporting the industrial investments needed to increase Blubrake’s production capacity.
Over the past five years, the EIB has invested more than €5.4 billion in Italy to promote sustainable mobility.
With a €10 million venture debt loan, the European Investment Bank (EIB) is investing in Blubrake, an Italian scale-up specialised in the development of next-generation ABS systems for electric bicycles.
Thanks to the EIB’s support, Blubrake is targeting international expansion and leadership in the field of anti-lock braking systems for e-bikes, so that the technology becomes an essential safety standard for all light electric vehicles, as has happened in the automotive sector. The EIB funding will help make light electric vehicles safer and facilitate the mass-market adoption of ABS in order to drastically reduce the frequency of accidents for cyclists and pedestrians.
Blubrake’s ABS prevents loss of control of the bicycle in the event of sudden braking, which is the cause of 60% of e-bike accidents, and locking of the front wheel, which is responsible for 25% of falls. ABS significantly improves braking on both high-adhesion terrain and slippery terrain by controlling braking power, to stop the front wheel from locking and the back wheel from lifting, thus maintaining the bicycle's stability and preventing it from overturning.
The EIB funding will also be used to set up a new assembly line and will facilitate Blubrake’s increased production capacity to cope with the company’s rapid international expansion.
“E-bikes represent the future of urban mobility and are a fast, environmentally-friendly and healthy means of transport. The EIB, as the EU climate bank, has invested more than €5.4 billion in Italy over the past five years to promote sustainable mobility and decarbonisation of the transport sector. Operations like the one signed with Blubrake today also demonstrate the EIB’s readiness to support Italian startups and the innovation of our financial products, such as venture debt,” said EIB Vice-President Gelsomina Vigliotti.
“ABS makes light electric vehicles safer and easier to use, encouraging their safe adoption by all users and contributing to the development of more sustainable and smarter mobility. We are very proud of this operation with the EIB, which confirms the importance of safety systems such as ABS in the mobility landscape and demonstrates the quality of the Blubrake team and the company’s potential,” said Blubrake Founder and CEO Fabio Todeschini.
“Blubrake is among the first enterprises developed within our industrial group: a technology created in 2015, following decades of prior research and with a concrete approach in terms of industrialisation and marketing. The results and advancement now being achieved by Blubrake demonstrate the success of our industrial group model which, using the most innovative technologies as a springboard, transforms intellectual property into enterprises and brings them to the market by generating tangible industrial assets. Blubrake’s technology, together with that of the other enterprises in the e-Novia Group, is helping to design the smart city of a future that is already here, in which one of the most basic aspects of everyday life — getting around — can be done in an increasingly personalised and sustainable manner,” concluded e-Novia CEO Vincenzo Russi.
Background information
The European Investment Bank (EIB) is the long-term lending institution of the European Union owned by its Member States. It provides long-term financing for sound investments that contribute to EU policy. The Bank finances projects in four priority areas: infrastructure, innovation, climate and environment, and small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Between 2019 and 2021, the EIB Group provided more than €36 billion in financing for projects in Italy.
Blubrake
Founded in 2015, Blubrake has developed and patented the only anti-lock braking system (ABS) for e-bikes and e-cargo bikes that can be fully integrated within the chassis, designed to make light electric vehicles safer and easier to use, thus facilitating the transition to more sustainable mobility.
e-Novia
Working out of Milan since 2015, e-Novia is an industrial group operating in industrial deep tech. Starting from a base of innovative and scalable technologies in the field of robotics, developed further via its strategic partnership with universities, research centres, Italian and international corporates, e-Novia creates products and sets up enterprises that can bring them to the market. e-Novia is active on the market with companies operating in vehicular and collaborative robotics: Blubrake, YAPE, e-Shock, Hiride, Y.Share, Weart, Blimp and Smart Robots. In addition, within its Factory Studio, e-Novia continuously and systematically generates new enterprises for its portfolio. The pipeline is constantly being enriched by new, contemporary, market-oriented business projects. This continuity is guaranteed by an economically sustainable operational approach and ever-growing human and financial capital.
Press contacts
EIB
Lorenzo Squintani, l.squintani@eib.org, mobile: +39 366 57 90 312
Website: www.eib.org/press — Press Office: +352 4379 21000
