Rokit Made Acquires Bike Sharing Platform Spinlister

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Rokit Made Acquires Bike Sharing Platform Spinlister

Spinlister Inc., the Santa Monica developer of a bike sharing and store rental platform, has a new owner.

Rokit Made, an electric bike retailer and subsidiary of the Pacific Palisades-based Rokit Group of Cos., announced Dec. 23 that it had acquired the company for an undisclosed price.

Under terms of the deal, Rokit Made will take over ownership of Spinlister’s bike sharing app, as well as its business-to-business service which streamlines rentals for individual bike shops.

Earlier this year Rokit Made announced plans to establish a 150,000-square-foot electric bike assembly plant in Las Vegas, capable of producing around 25,000 e-bikes annually. It’s not clear whether the company might use Spinlister’s platform to facilitate sales or rentals of the e-bikes.

Rokit Vice Chairman Dean Becker said the company would continue to oversee the Spinlister service and attempt to grow the app’s user base.

“Through this acquisition, Rokit Made will heavily invest in Spinlister’s infrastructure, staffing and marketing,” he said in a statement. “We expect Spinlister to grow exponentially in 2021.”

The company also said it would invest in developing a new Spinlister service that allows users to schedule in-store or virtual appointments with local bike shops.

Spinlister has had a tumultuous history since it launched in 2011. Only a year after the sharing platform debuted as an Airbnb-type service for bikes, the company’s founders changed its name to Liquid and rebranded as a broader peer-to-peer marketplace.

Later, investor Marcelo Loureiro took over the company and changed its name back to Spinlister, refocusing the business on bike sharing.

The service shut down in 2018 — only to reemerge last year under the management of Chief Executive Mark Gustafson, who also co-founded electric bicycle company Story Bikes.

In a statement, Gustafson said the company’s acquisition would support Spinlifter’s continued development.

“This partnership will enable our team to start implementing innovative technology to help both individuals and businesses to thrive in the bike, mobility and outdoor rental space,” Gustafson said.

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