Static exercise bike brand Wattbike has secured a multimillion-pound boost to help fund its "ambitious global expansion plans".
The West Bridgford-based company has agreed a £3.25m asset-based lending facility with Praetura Commercial Finance in Manchester.
The funding will help the business invest in its Hub App as well as target key global territories in the North America and Asia-Pacific regions.
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Since September 2020 Wattbike has been backed by private equity firm Piper after it invested £11.5m.
Wattbike has commercial deals with the likes of British Cycling, Manchester City and the New Zealand All Blacks as well as David Lloyd, the England football team, Hilton Hotels and the British Army.
According to its most recently-published accounts, Wattbike's turnover totalled £32.1m and its pre-tax profits were £826,881 in the 12 months to September 30, 2021.
Chief executive Richard Baker said: "We are fiercely proud to have built a business that is chosen by the world’s best teams and athletes.
"This has enabled us to continue to scale our brand, product and services into the consumer and commercial markets, domestically and internationally.
"We are excited about the future as we progress through the next phase of our plans: building a more accessible brand, products and digital services with the mission of improving the health and performance of every Wattbiker, with the continued support of Piper and new funding from Praetura Commercial Finance.
"Praetura's ability to get in and understand the business quickly, see the opportunity and create ways to unlock finance options for Wattbike made them a natural partner."
Stuart Bates, commercial director of Praetura Commercial Finance, added: "Helping a best-in-class business like Wattbike achieve its goals is why we started Praetura.
"Spending time with Rich and the team, hearing how they’ve built one of the most noteworthy brands in elite sport and helping design a funding solution that supercharged their strategy for the future were a real privilege.
"Needless to say, the Praetura team includes a few cycling fanatics who are evangelical about Wattbike’s products. You can see the passion Wattbike’s team put into its bikes and the fitness community that develops around them. We look forward to working with the team again in future and wish them every success."
The deal was managed by Henry Wheeler at Praetura and introduced by Adam Simpson from Silkstone Consultants.
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