Daniel Basaldua decided to change career paths when he realized his well paying job in traditional energy left him unfulfilled.
“I started looking at what industries would change for the future, and transportation seemed primed for change,” he says.
He resolved to apply to jobs in transportation and developed an interest in how micromobility can allow cities to reclaim valuable real estate that’s dedicated to parking. For fun, he made an ebike from parts on eBay. Soon, his sister asked him to make her one, too—she couldn’t find an ebike that was light, comfortable, and had full suspension without spending about $4,000.
Basaldua realized there was a market gap, which corresponded to an untapped customer segment: women. Women only made up about 23 percent of ebike sales, compared to 42 percent for traditional bikes, according to Basaldua—a statistic he set out to change.
He founded Euphree, a Greentown Houston startup, in 2020 and proceeded to roll out ebikes that are 10 to 30 pounds lighter than their competition and emphasize comfort. They have full suspensions, a 60-mile range, the ability to carry 100 pounds on a rear rack, and a top speed of 28 miles per hour. The ebikes clock in at just under $1,700 (City Robin 2021) and $2,000 (City Robin 2022).
“We put a full suspension in our ebike as a standard feature, which really makes a huge difference, especially in cities where there are a ton of potholes,” Basaldua says. “So many customers tell us how comfortable our ebikes are, because of those same things my little sister wanted, like curved handlebars so you can be upright or choose to lean forward. We also focused on aesthetics; we wanted a sleek ebike.”
Not only are the ebikes proving appealing to women—the demographic accounts for 55 percent of Euphree’s customers—but they’re popular among older people as well, according to Basaldua.
The six-person startup has big plans for 2022, including getting its ebikes into a large retailer (while also maintaining its direct-to-customer sales), wrapping up its seed funding, and initiating a Series A round.
Euphree is also getting its ebikes into Greentown Houston; carrying on a longtime tradition of piloting our members’ technology on-site, we were proud to order four Euphree ebikes. These will be made available to our team and member companies to get to pitches, lunches, and other meetings emissions-free.
“Daniel is well on his founder’s journey and is building a company the right way: by listening to customers, understanding market trends, and delivering a product that customers love,” says Greentown Labs Senior Director of Membership Jason Ethier. “By supporting him and his vision, we hope to help accelerate broader market adoption; the growth in the EV market is not just about cars, but multimodal mobility solutions such as ebikes, which will become ubiquitous. We are excited to bring Euphree’s bikes to Greentown to help our own staff and community to have alternative options as they locomote through Houston.”
Basaldua explains that the networking opportunities Greentown creates have been meaningful for Euphree’s growth.
“The most valuable offering is the network,” he says. “Leveraging it for core business needs—such as marketing help, grant writing, finding capital, and general advice—has been very helpful.”