Where we come from
From the barn to the big city
A compact cargo bike with small wheels. Produced fairly in Germany. "That won’t work." We did it anyway. Today, we build cargo bikes in the heart of Cologne – with passion and high-tech. Fair to the environment, fair to our customers and fair within the team. That is muli cycles.
2015
Doing without a car in the city, little space and two children – the idea for a cargo bike that doesn’t become a burden itself matures. The first prototypes are built, we tinker with drafts and designs.
2016
The muli is born. The first production-ready prototype works, inspires and provides good arguments to take the step of founding a company. In December, muli cycles GmbH is founded and we are suddenly a bicycle manufacturer.
2017
muli needs the crowd and the crowd seems to have been waiting for a new bike concept. The funding campaign hits the ground running and gives the go-ahead for the production of the first small series. Grandma’s converted barn in the Westerwald becomes an assembly hall and the villagers shake their heads in disbelief – the first 100 mulis roll onto the streets of major German cities.
2018
Friends become employees and together we shake up the industry – Startup & Gold Award at Eurobike, followed by the Hessian Founder’s Prize and Red Dot Design Award. Production is carried out locally in the background and delivered throughout Europe. The first dealers come on board. Berlin and Hamburg become muli capitals.
2020
The muli Motor st is the first compact cargo bike with an integrated mid-motor to be launched on the market. Not only does it become our top seller in no time at all, it also quickly wins the Eurobike Gold Award.
2021
The barn is bursting at the seams and even grandma’s old living room barely offers any storage space. We leave our home village of 1000 souls and move to the Rhine metropolis of Cologne with our now seven employees. Here, in the middle of Cologne-Ehrenfeld, we set up the muli Factory. Finally space for our own metal processing, new assembly lines, the growing team and table tennis. We buy the first welding robot system.
2022
We reach an important milestone with the conversion of frame production to 100% recycled steel. The muli Factory Store opens opposite the bicycle assembly facility.
2024
With the muli Motor eu, we are taking the vision of locally produced bikes to a new level: 90% of all components are manufactured within the EU. At the same time, the second welding robot is delivered to the muli Factory. From now on, we will be able to manufacture the entire muli frame automatically and in-house.
2025
In Cologne-Ehrenfeld, more than 80 great people are now working every day to realize our vision.
What drives us
Each product has a social and ecological dimension
We have made holistic thinking our principle. We recognise that our company brings a new organisation of materials and people into the world. We intervene in economic, social and ecological systems and realise that everything is linked. We are convinced that a product for sustainable mobility in our cities must also be produced sustainably and in a fair way in order to be really good.
Our aim is not only to be part of existing structures and build a stable organism within them, but to actively help shape these structures and discourses. Ideally, our actions will have a beneficial impact on the systems in which we are embedded – in the way we do business, the way we live together in society and the way we treat our natural resources. We want to develop products that solve more problems than they create – from a holistic perspective. This way of thinking is reflected in our values: fairness, solidarity, quality and a pioneering spirit.
Product and planet
Our products should be highly suitable for everyday use, multifunctional and compatible with existing infrastructures. We are convinced that a cargo bike must not become a burden in itself, it has to remain a bike. That’s why we build compact bikes with small wheels. When developing our bikes, we are not guided by industry trends, but by the real challenges of everyday life.
We stand up for the protection of our planet. That is why we focus on quality and durability. Our design follows the principle of minimalism. "Form follows function": We reduce the amount of materials to the essentials and use recycled and recyclable materials wherever possible. Our tubular steel material for our frames is made from 100% scrap metal. It is melted down in electric arc furnaces in northern Germany – fuelled by renewable energy.
Individual and community
Here in Cologne, we focus on flat hierarchies, flexible working hours, family-friendliness and a collective annual bonus – in an equal amount for all employees. We want to create a spirit of solidarity free from hatred, prejudice and discrimination. We also look for partners in our supply chain who guarantee fair labour. We achieve this best when the people we work with are accessible and close by, and when European and even better, German labour and social standards are guaranteed. This is precisely why we produce our frames entirely in Germany.
Moreover, we are supporting a free, democratic order for our society – more than ever. And therefore we are in favour of the common regulation of power. Only a strong community can protect the fundamental rights of every individual – regardless of gender, origin, sexual orientation, religion or health status. For us, it is clear that a free and solid society will not happen on its own. We want to make our contribution to this – every day, with what we do and how we do it.