7 Years Ago In August, Cyclups Was Born

Multiple millions spent on development.

A team growing to 15 people — and shrinking again.
Scaling. Restructuring. Starting over.
Going bankrupt.

And reaching our first millions in revenue.

A word from our founder Bas Latten:

7 years ago in August, I started CYCLUPS.
If you had told me back then what the next seven years would look like, I’m not sure I would have believed you.

There have been moments when it felt like we were building something that could become huge.

And moments when I genuinely wondered whether there would even be a CYCLUPS left to build.

It all started in August 2019.
I had just returned from a six-month journey through Asia and Oceania. A journey that changed the way I looked at the world — and ultimately became the starting point of CYCLUPS.

Today, exactly 7 years later, it’s difficult to capture in a few words what this journey has brought.

We’ve experienced some incredible highs — and some very deep lows.

We spent millions euros developing products, technology and a market that barely existed when we started.

We failed.
We went bankrupt.
We started again.

And, we went from developing an idea to generating our first millions in revenue.
But the numbers only tell part of the story.

The past seven years have probably been the biggest learning experience of my life.
They taught me about entrepreneurship, leadership, resilience, people and making difficult decisions. About setting ambitious goals, missing some of them, achieving others, and continuing when reality looks completely different from the plan.

Most importantly, they reinforced why we started CYCLUPS in the first place:
To prove that sustainability and business don't have to compete.
That we can build solutions that create value for People, Planet & Profit.

I’m incredibly grateful to all the people I love, our team members past and present, customers, shareholders, partners, suppliers and relationships who have supported me along the way.

Especially those who stayed when things weren't easy.
Those who remained loyal.

And those who continued to believe in CYCLUPS and the impact we can create together.
Seven years later, I’m still convinced that we're only getting started.
The ambition hasn't become smaller and learned one thing:

Keep pushing.
Always.

If anything, the journey has made it bigger.
On to the next 7 🌍