Toloka.vc has invested £186,000 in British electric bike service GIN e-bikes

Ukrainian investment syndicate Toloka.vc has announced an investment of £186,000 in British company GIN e-bikes, which is developing a subscription-based electric bike rental service under the PLUTO brand in London.

This was stated in a statement by the syndicate.

The investment was provided in the form of a two-year loan at an interest rate of 12% per annum and secured by the company’s assets — a fleet of electric bikes.

The funds raised are planned to be used to purchase 160 new bikes and scale up the subscription model in London. The company aims to reach 100 active users within six months.

GIN e-bikes was founded in 2022 and initially operated as a direct-to-consumer brand of electric bikes in the under £1,000 price segment.

In 2024–2025, the company pivoted to a subscription-based electric bike rental service model, targeting primarily couriers and urban users.

PLUTO’s subscription model includes monthly rental, maintenance, accessories, and insurance. After the 12-month rental cycle ends, the bikes will be sold on the secondary market, creating an additional source of revenue.

According to the company, the PLUTO pilot project already has 37 active subscribers, and the average income from one bicycle from rentals and additional services is about £158 per month. The goal for the next six months is to reach 100 active users. This should provide an annual recurring revenue (ARR) of £200,000.

In 2026, GIN e-bikes plans to raise up to £1 million in investment to increase its fleet to 1,000 electric bikes and expand its service infrastructure in London.

As a reminder, in November 2025, Toloka.vc invested in ALICE Technologies, a Silicon Valley startup. It was the company’s eighth deal last year.

What is known about the co-founders of Toloka.vc

Oleksandr Kolb is an entrepreneur, founder, and head of the marketing company Promodo. He was one of the initiators of the Kharkiv IT cluster, where he was a member of the supervisory board. He was also a member of the supervisory board of the Kharkiv National University of Radio Electronics.

Until 2019, Taras Kyrychenko headed Pravex Bank, founded by Leonid Chernovetskyi. He also worked on the supervisory board of the state-owned Oschadbank. In September 2021, he joined the supervisory board of Nova Poshta.

Igor Shoifot is a venture capitalist and partner at TMT Investments. He was born in russia but later moved to the US. In an interview with Forbes, he stated that he only has American citizenship and has allegedly never held a Russian passport.

Together with Vladimir Gidirim from Romania and Sergei Mosunov from russia, he co-founded the investment association The Garage Syndicate.

Read more: Ukrainian company Reface raised $18M from PvX Partners. The goal of the funding is to attract new users