In November 2023, it was announced that the French online retailer of used electric bicycles Upway had raised $30 million in fresh money to accelerate growth and planned the construction of a first distribution center in Belgium.
Upway had not found a location for the distribution center at that time. The warehouse had to have 2,000 to 3,500 square meters, where around twenty employees would initially receive, refurbish and ship the bicycles. In the long run, there should be room for 50 employees, according to expansion manager Philippe De Schutter.
Upway is an online retailer of electric bicycles. The French company was founded in 2020 by two former managers of the taxi and meal ordering site Uber and quickly brought on board renowned investors such as Sequoia and Exor Ventures, a vehicle owned by the Italian Fiat family Agnelli, as backers. In the first two years, Upway bought and sold around 20,000 second-hand electric bikes in Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany, France and the US; mostly e-bikes from renowned brands such as Strömer, Riese + Müller, Urban Arrow and Tern. In Belgium, the company has agreements with 200 bike shops. There, customers who buy a new bike can immediately get a trade-in price for their old e-bike. The bikes are picked up, refurbished and sold by Upway at a discount of 25 to 65 percent on the new price.
Philippe De Schutter contacted March for the extremely important search for a first distribution center. In addition, we had to look for a warehouse for rent that was located along the strategic Antwerp-Brussels axis, and where there were sufficient qualified staff nearby.
The March team, whose central point of contact was Companion Ben Van der Smissen, immediately took action. A search profile was created, and according to the now familiar March method, Upway got its own personal page on the March website, where the relevant properties were always kept up to date. This way, Philippe and his team always had an accurate digital overview.
Upway was able to compile a shortlist of possible properties that could be discussed with the headquarters in Paris. The building at Molenweide 2 in Mechelen has been a leader in the ranking of properties since the visit. In terms of location, that building met the criteria nicely: the perfect location between Antwerp and Brussels, with good accessibility by public transport, car and, of course, bicycle. The building connected to Upway's existing branches in Berlin and Paris, so that Upway's experience of efficient warehouse layout already gained there could be made maximum use of.
“The digital overview is very useful. This way, all information is available quickly, personally and up to date. That set the tone for the entire transaction guidance with March.” - Philippe De Schutter, Expansion Lead Upway
Upway therefore preferred the building on the Molenweide. But of course, a good contract still had to be drawn up. March Companion Ben was able to supervise this properly, so that Upway could sign a common law lease agreement with the owner as a nice end-of-year gift to move into the site on January 1, 2024. As part of the agreement, it was discussed that Upway could still build offices itself, and the owner would be responsible for installing an additional gate and window. In this way, Upway was able to launch the Belgian site in record time. The March team is proud to have contributed to the establishment of a promising sustainable scale-up in Belgium!
