Pictured above: FTN Motion’s Michel Roncara and Luke Sinclair. Photo credit: Aaron Lam.
Kiwi automotive start-up FTN Motion is welcoming Dyson’s former CEO, Roland Krueger, as an advisor and shareholder alongside Jamie France, who most recently led Engineering, Production and Launch for the Electron rocket at space company Rocket Lab.
FTN Motion was founded in 2020 by Luke Sinclair, Kendall Bristow, and Saskia Thornton to disrupt commuting with their electric motorcycle the Streetdog. Earlier this year, they moved to a purpose-built facility in Hamilton to scale for exports to Australia and beyond; and earlier this month FTN launched its new motorcycle the Streetdog80. In just three weeks, more than 50 customers on both sides of the Tasman have reserved theirs for delivery from the end of 2024.
FTN Motion is the first New Zealand-based company Krueger has backed. He discovered FTN through New Zealand Trade and Enterprise and has followed its progress for some time. Before Dyson, he had a long career in the automotive industry and has remained deeply passionate about it.
“The Streetdog is brilliant in its simplicity,” he says.
“The way the Streetdog’s storage is integrated into the body of the bike is one of those ideas so perfectly simple, you wonder why no one else thought of it before.
“It’s a great idea that builds on the heritage of pure motorcycle design and combines it with the latest EV technology, allowing a new transport method. With the Streetdog, FTN has huge potential and a real chance of becoming an iconic brand,” he says.
France joined Rocket Lab in 2014 when it was still a start-up. Now the Head of Manufacturing and Supply Chain at Fleet Space Technologies, he says Streetdog’s fusion of build quality, clever engineering and style impressed him from the start.
“As New Zealanders we all resonate with the John Britten and Burt Munro stories of creative inventors, taking on the world and showing what can be done with fresh thinking, determination and excellent engineering.
“The bikes that FTN make transform a customer’s daily commute into the most enjoyable part of their day – bringing that experience to new international locations is an awesome opportunity,” he says.
Sinclair, FTN Motion’s co-founder says both Krueger and France bring invaluable experience from production and engineering perspectives.
“We’re stoked to have them join as we ramp up our plans to export, beginning with Australia. They get the vision and most critically, understand the supply chain, quality control and cashflow challenges unique to a manufacturing company with a technically complex product,’’ he says.
FTN Motion also recently completed its latest capital raising round, with an additional $2.6 million committed to the company. Sinclair says this will help fund the completion of R&D projects geared towards developing the Streetdog80 and streamlining production to bring forward delivery times.
“We’re working towards being able to build 70 Streetdogs a month. This latest round will help us meet our delivery targets while pursuing best-in-class build quality. This funding has come from investors passionate about supporting meaningful innovation, and we’re excited to have them join the next step of our journey,” he says.
