Four friends from different walks of life decided to take some time out of their busy work days and start a business. One year later, that business is called AutoBike.
"Everyone has the same sentiment, that there has to be a better way," says Sean Simpson, co-founder of
AutoBike. "We did some brainstorming that there has to be a better way for us to leave our mark on the world."
AutoBike's team of seven people is developing an automatic shifter for bicycles. The new shifter employs a system that constantly monitors the bike and how its rider is peddling, allowing it to automatically shift to the gear for the optimal ride.
"You just hop on and ride," Simpson says. "We taught the bike to shift instead of the rider."
Simpson, an automotive engineer, is the only one of the co-founders who has turned AutoBike into his full-time job to spearhead the development of the shifter. The startup hopes to have have its first product out midway through this year.
The AutoBike team plans to first make the shifter an add-on for existing bikes then, eventually, start manufacturing its own line of bicycles.
Source: Sean Simpson, co-founder of AutoBike
Writer: Jon Zemke
Read more about Metro Detroit's growing entrepreneurial ecosystem at SEMichiganStartup.com.
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