Ventum, maker of performance racing bicycles and the Official Global Bike Partner of Ironman, announced that it has raised a round of funding and that it is moving to Heber City, UT.
Proceeds from the investment round will be used to fund Ventum’s ongoing growth and new product development. Over the next five years, Ventum projects to increase sales to over 40,000 bikes across road cycling and triathlon as well as new market segments, driving revenues of $50 million.
To support that growth, Ventum is moving to a new corporate headquarters in Utah, where it plans to hire 32 additional employees this year. All Ventum bikes sold in the United States will be assembled at the new location. Ventum is also exploring moving some of its manufacturing operations to Utah from overseas. Components used in building Ventum bikes are currently sourced from all over the world, including from Utah, as well as Switzerland, Japan, and Denmark.
“Our decision to move Ventum HQ to Utah comes after years of searching, trying out, and negotiating with candidate locations” explained Diaa Nour, Ventum CEO. “Founding the company in Miami was a simple decision. That’s where I lived, so that’s where we started. This time around, it was a strategic decision. We needed to find a location where we could be close to our customers, hire great people to join our team, and have room to grow. Our new home in Utah meets all of those criteria, plus having the mountains and trails right outside is going to come in handy for the bikes we’re working on next.”
In 2015, Ventum released the Ventum One, a triathlon bike with an unconventional design. The Ventum One demonstrated significantly better aerodynamic performance (24 percent less drag) than the closest competing bicycle in Ventum’s wind tunnel testing. In 2016 and 2017, athletes riding Ventum bikes in the Ironman World Championship finished the bike portion of the race an average of 18 minutes faster (according to data collected and analyzed by Ironman comparing athletes racing on 25 different bicycle brands, each with at least 20 bikes in the race). In 2018 Ventum became the first ever Official Global Bike Partner of Ironman as well as the Official Bike Supplier of the Ironman and Ironman 70.3 World Championships.
“When we released the Ventum One, there were a lot of skeptics. But once they saw the Ventum One’s performance, other bike companies rushed to create non-traditional, non-UCI-legal triathlon bikes too” Nour recalled. “This year, we just released our first road-racing bike, the Ventum NS1. We combined the most advanced materials and manufacturing processes available to create a road bike that is both aerodynamic and lightweight. Some people thought we were only a triathlon company, but the early reviews of the NS1 have been phenomenal. And we’re just getting started… Ultimately, our mission is to create class-leading bikes that help to push the industry forward.”
