Boulder-based MoonBikes company files for bankruptcy

BOULDER — Just a year into their first North American venture, a French company that manufactures all-electric snow bikes has filed for bankruptcy protection in the United States.

MoonBikes Motors Inc., a French company that made Boulder its North American homebase in 2023, filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy protection in May, after spending the first few months of the year terminating its remaining three employees. The company reported $60,449 in total assets and $44,364 in liabilities, according to filings with U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Delaware. While it is unknown how many bikes the company sold in the United States, from October to December 2023, it had transferred a little more than $398,000 to its French parent company.

Founder and CEO Nicolas Muron developed MoonBikes about eight years ago when he spotted a business opportunity in the French Alps. MoonBikes became an eco-friendly alternative to snow machines, which were loud and hard to store. MoonBikes used snowmobile technology, but in a lighter capacity, as if they were bikes. The company worked to market the bikes at ski resorts to offer alternatives to skiing, and also develop a rental market in the U.S. that had enjoyed success in Europe.

Moving to Boulder, the company was looking into consumer sales, but the cost of each MoonBike was around $10,000, which included the cost of the bike and shipping costs from France.

According to court filings, company officials terminated MoonBikes’ vice president of sales in January; its vice president of operations in March, and finally, its general manager in April.

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