Coming off, what it says was, its best year yet, the San Clemente-based MURF Electric Bikes announced last week that it has partnered with an investment firm as the local company looks to grow significantly in 2023.
Its collaboration with GEF Capital Partners, a private equity firm focused on climate change and sustainability efforts, will allow the company to work towards opening a new retail storefront, releasing two new models of bikes and finding more dealers to sell its bikes this year, according to MURF’s Jan. 25 announcement.
Co-founder and CEO Josh Jones told San Clemente Times that the process to identify a partner was over a year in the making as the company wanted someone to help take MURF to the “next level.”
“The next level would be selling more bikes, bringing on more staff, and making our product even better,” said Jones.
He added that working with professionals to better design bikes fit within the company’s definition of involving more staff in addition to hiring sales representatives.
Kiara Jones, the other co-founder, chief operating officer, and Jones’ wife, said the pair realized how much farther MURF had grown past their initial expectations. They didn’t want to stunt the company’s growth, so they started the search for a financial partner.
Throughout that process, according to Kiara, MURF keyed in on finding a firm that expressed a belief in its brand especially as private equity firms carried a generally negative reputation.
“During the process, (they) flew out and met us in person,” she said. “We had lots of conversations outside of just the nitty gritty research and numbers.”
In the announcement, Josh further explained the reason for partnering with GEF Capital.
“As a family-founded company, we were immediately drawn to GEF Capital’s unique approach towards investing, which centers supporting management teams and aligning values,” he said. “We’re thrilled to have found a partner that will support our close-knit team and continued growth.”
The announcement added that GEF Capital’s “true partnership philosophy” in backing the pre-existing staff at MURF was another factor.
Josh said he also felt the firm’s managing partner, Stuart Barkoff, could relate to MURF in that both businesses have been trying to grow in recent years, he told SC Times.
Kiara said the move was important in terms of honoring the staff who have been at the company by providing them with more resources to succeed.
The biking company’s goal in releasing its newest update to customers and others who come across the information was to let people know that its team, full of San Clementeans, as Kiara noted, is striving to do better than before.
“Our goal is to really improve the lives of the community through our products,” Kiara said. “So, we want to make great-performing products and continue to elevate them, but we also want to impact people’s lives.”
MURF’s partnership with GEF Capital will help the company expand that desire, she said, and Josh echoed her sentiments.
“When (people) get on a MURF (bike), there’s just a feeling of love when you ride it,” Josh said. “You love doing it, and it makes whatever you’re doing more enjoyable. We just want to spread that feeling.”
Discussion about this post