Rad Power Bikes faces shutdown in January without new funding

Rad Power Bikes has informed its employees that it will shut down in January if it is unable to find new funding or get acquired, according to an internal staff email viewed by TechCrunch.

The company’s leadership is “still fighting to find ways to continue,” and “the cessation of Rad’s operations is not a forgone conclusion,” according to the email, which was sent by Rad Power’s “people team.” Rad Power employees were told there had been a “very promising” option to keep the company alive that “appeared to be likely to close,” but the deal — which was not specified in the email — “did not come to fruition.”

“Rad is nothing without its people and wants to ensure that all employees are taken care of and provided for to the fullest extent feasible. Executive leaders are hopeful that a viable solution will be found to ensure that Rad team members remain gainfully employed for the foreseeable future. However, to be fully transparent, despite our collective efforts, it is possible that this may not happen, and Rad may be forced to cease operations,” the email reads. GeekWire was first to report the contents of the email.

Seattle-based Rad Power has gone through multiple rounds of layoffs over the last few years coming out of the pandemic. While the early pandemic days were a boon to micromobility companies like Rad Power, a “sudden drop in consumer demand” left the company saddled with excess inventory, according to the email viewed by TechCrunch. “Rad continues to face significant financial challenges, including in the form of tariffs and the macroeconomic landscape.”

“At this time, Rad’s leadership is focused on supporting our employees, serving our Rad Riders, and giving Rad the best chance for longevity,” a spokesperson for the company said.

Rad Power is far from the only company in the e-bike or micromobility space to run into trouble recently. A number of others have gone out of business or had to restructure over the last few years, like Cake, VanMoof, Superpedestrian, and Bird.

Despite the industry turmoil, Rad Power was still considered to make some of the most compelling e-bikes on the market. But faced with escalating financial pressure, the company swapped CEOs earlier this year. It brought in an executive named Kathi Lentzsch who has spent decades turning around underperforming companies.

Lentzsch and the other executives at Rad Power have spent the last few months exploring “strategic partnerships with other companies that could acquire [Rad Power] or provide funding so the company could keep moving forward,” per the email.

Last week, the company issued a Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification notice to the employees at its Seattle headquarters, which told them that the 64 people working there could be laid off as soon as January 9. But this isn’t a targeted layoff, according to the email — it’s just the only Rad Power office with enough workers to necessitate this kind of mandated warning.

“In the event the company is forced to close, Rad would be required to cease operations on January 9, 2026, or within 14 days thereafter,” according to the email. “In that case, Rad expects that any cessation of operations will affect all locations and departments, will be permanent in nature, and that all employees will be terminated effective January 9, 2026.”