Three things we learned about Sondors from its IPO filing

There are good reasons why the Sondors MetaCycle grabbled motorcyclists' interest when it was unveiled. First, it came from a company that had already found some success selling innovative electric bicycles at attractive prices. Founded by Storm Sondors, the company has sold more than 63,000 electric bicycles around the world since 2015.

More importantly, the MetaCycle filled what Sondors and others (including myself) felt was a real gap in the electric motorcycle offerings available in the United States. Unlike electric scooters and bicycles, the MetaCycle promised a top speed of 80 mph, so it is capable of at least short highway stints. Unlike the high-performance bikes like the LiveWire ONE or the Energica Experia that cost over $20,000, the MetaCycle was affordable. Originally targeted at $5,000, the price later rose to $6,500, but that's still far less than the least expensive Zero (though Zero models have higher performance). Plus, the MetaCycle has a unique style that doesn't look like someone just took an existing gas-engine motorcycle, fuel tank and all, and stuffed in a battery where the engine used to be.

Some of that buzz was tarnished, however, not only by the price hike, but also by seemingly slipping performance figures. (Zack Courts is currently testing a MetaCycle so we'll have definitive answers on performance soon.) Some buyers decided to get a refund of deposits they put down for a MetaCycle.

Now, with the company's SEC filings, we have a better idea of some of the activity behind the curtain at Sondors.

How many MetaCycles has Sondors delivered?

One factor that quieted some of the MetaCycle buzz was the slipping timeline for delivering motorcycles to consumers who had put down deposits. Deliveries originally planned for 2021 were pushed to 2022, then late 2022. Then, last year, Sondors assured us they had begun delivering motorcycles. But how many? Thousands? Five?

The company's S-1 form filed with the SEC reveals that as of February 1, Sondors has delivered 1,472 MetaCycles to customers in the United States. By comparison, that's significantly more MetaCycles in a few months than LiveWire has sold ONEs in the past two years — which is what you'd expect, since the ONE costs nearly four times as much.

That means we'll soon start to see more information on how the MetaCycle actually performs in the real world, both from our own testing and from the experiences of owners.

Designing a dirt bike and an ATV

Having moved beyond electric bicycles to the MetaCycle, what's Sondors' next move? How does it plan to invest the money it hopes to raise through the IPO? In addition to paying off some debt, Sondors said the new money will be used in part to expand the product line.

"We are currently designing an electric all-terrain vehicle (ATV), an electric dirt bike, a larger version of the MetaCycle, MetaCycle-stylized e-bikes and other e-mobility products," the company states in the S-1. To increase efficiency, some of these products will use the same parts across multiple models to expand offerings while keeping prices low. (Artist's renderings of those potential products are shown in the illustration at top.)

Sondors has already developed a partnership with Costco to sell electric bicycles in the stores, and the company said it could partner with other retailers to sell some of its new products or may sell them through dedicated showrooms, in addition to the direct-to-consumer model.

Sondors is not profitable yet

The SEC filings also give us a rare glimpse into the financials of a privately held company. Sondors is still growing revenues but its operating losses are also growing. In the first nine months of 2022, Sondors took in $16.8 million in revenue, more than the $16.5 million for the entire year of 2021. However, after expenses, the operating loss for the first nine months of 2022 was $3.8 million. In 2021, the company lost $4.9 million.

The balance sheet also shows why it's trying to raise money with the IPO. Sondors had cash and equivalents of $1 million on hand at the end of September, 2022, compared to $8.6 million at the end of 2021.

The company's S-1 documents have been amended a few times and the latest filing, dated February 9, calls for issuing four million shares at an estimated price of $4 to $6 on the Nasdaq exchange. That would leave founder Storm Sondors with about 76% ownership of the company.

It will be interesting to see investors' reactions to the Sondors IPO and the company's plans to move more into motorcycles and ATVs and beyond its bicycle origins.