YikeBike
“The YikeBike is a statement about using smart technology to solve the problems of our increasingly congested, polluted, stressful cities. It is the first commercial expression of the mini-farthing concept, created by a bunch of successful entrepreneurs, engineers and dreamers.
Grant Ryan’s goal is that one day his electric bike will be the most commonly owned transport device in the world. More widespread in fact than the bicycle. YikeBike founder, Grant Ryan is known among his peers as an addicted inventor and entrepreneur. His ‘big hairy goal’, is so big as to be laughable, but don’t! What makes Grant so backable is “his tenaciousness, entrepreneurial bent and his raw intelligence. I like his mindStyle, he makes ideas nervous.
Track Record
Ryan has an impressive track record. He was the guy behind Global Brain, an internet search technology that he dreamed up on a couch and later sold to an American News organisation for $USD32m, one of the biggest tech deals done by a New Zealand firm. After the dotcom crash, Ryan and a group of investors bought back the technology and relaunched it as SLI Systems.
SLI Systems is the international provider of on-demand, intelligent search and navigation services for e-commerce and other content-rich sites. It’s CEO is Grant’s brother Shaun. Earlier this month it signed Dilbert.com for its new Learning Search service for online publishers. Dilbert.com is the official website for Scott Adams’ collection of Dilbert satirical comic strips.
Then there was Eurekster, another Web 2.0 company and Ryan’s great “near-miss”, after the American investors involved turned down a multimillion-dollar offer from Google. The software track was a byway. The YikeBike by contrast, is pure Ryan, a product of both his mechanical engineering background and a PhD in ecological economics that got him thinking about clean transport solutions.
He’s on the Board of the Canterbury Development Corporation and has also served on the Board of the New Zealand Government’s Venture Investment Fund and Foundation for Research Science and Technology. He has a degree in Mechanical Engineering and a PhD in Ecological Economics from the University of Canterbury. The YikeBike perfectly combines his love of mechanics, environment and innovation.
The YikeBike
It’s no small feat that it was named by Time Magazine as one of the top inventions of 2009 and in April this year it won the award for ‘Best Brainwave’ at an International Gadget Fair in the United Kingdom. It’s a real head-turner!
The battery-powered YikeBike can be manoeuvred through busy city streets at up to 25km/h and, with a few twists and folds can be stowed in a shoulder bag or under a bus seat. The Judges were impressed by its innovative design and minimal carbon footprint.”
With Christmas just around the corner, this might just be what you give the person who has everything. It’s a little kiwi kristmas magic in 21st century mechanical, environmental and innovative wrapping.
The VIDEO
