Bike Club was founded in 2016 by Alexandra Rico-Lloyd and her now ex-husband. The business took off in 2020 as family cycling grew in popularity and investments allowed them to spread their wings. Earlier this year Bike Club was officially B-Corp certified, solidifying its position as a sustainable business.

With already over 50,000 members, Bike Club has become one of the world's largest bike rental networks, connecting sustainability-minded consumers.

“I started out the business with my boyfriend at the time. And we later got married and had children but now we're getting divorced.

“And I think my big confession is that I think we made very good business partners. But having reflected on the relationship, I think if it wasn't for the business, we possibly never would have got married”.

“When I started the business, I had no clue what bootstrapping was. And we bootstrapped for a few years before  I even learned what it was. Bootstrapping is basically where you kind of fund your own business without getting external investment.

“So, you fund the growth of the business from the revenues that are coming in. We got investment from family and friends, re-mortgaging, credit cards and loans and stuff. And that managed to fund our growth for the first few years. 

“Our growth could have been quicker if we hadn't bootstrapped and if we'd got external investment because we wouldn't have been relying on kind of waiting for some of those memberships to kind of run the course. Second time round, I would probably raise money earlier and do it sooner. Maybe because I have more faith in myself now.”

Get a new episode weekly on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Acast and other major podcast platforms.

Please note that the views and information have not been endorsed, issued or approved by NatWest. Any views expressed in this podcast are not necessarily those of NatWest.