Cowboy SA Hires Apple Lawyer as E-Bike Maker’s Rivals Struggle

Cowboy SA, a Brussels-based electric bike startup eyeing opportunities as competitors face financial trouble, has recruited Pola Karolczyk from Apple Inc. as its first general counsel.

Karolczyk, a former senior associate at Sidley Austin, spent the past five years as a regional legal counsel at Apple in Brussels, a legal hub for the European Union. She left the technology giant this month to join Cowboy as its top lawyer, a role that will see Karolczyk oversee its legal and investor relations functions, as well as have a hand in other initiatives and strategic development at the company.

Brussels-based Cowboy, founded in 2017, emerged in recent years as a leading e-bike maker in a growing urban mobility market. Cowboy received $80 million in financing two years ago as part of an effort to enter the US and in early 2023 the company secured an additional $14 million in new funding.

Cowboy has been called the “Apple of e-bikes.” But Karolczyk’s former employer, despite having an interest in other forms of transportation, has not entered the turbulent micromobility market. ALI Technologies Inc., maker of a Star Wars-inspired Hoverbike, filed for bankruptcy this week in Japan.

Bloomberg News reported this month on how electric scooter and e-bike companies such as Bird Global Inc. and VanMoof BV found themselves in distressed situations after pandemic-related business booms ended.

Cowboy’s Dutch e-bike rival VanMoof went bankrupt last year and was ultimately sold to Lavoie, an upscale e-scooter affiliate of British technology company McLaren Applied Ltd. Bird, a Miami-based e-scooter and micomobility startup, filed for bankruptcy in December, leaving a trail of Big Law debts in its wake.

A list of unsecured creditors in Bird’s Chapter 11 case shows that it owes more than $4.2 million to a half-dozen law firms, including $1.6 million to Stradling, Yocca, Carlson & Rauth and $1 million to Quarles & Brady. Others on the list are litigation boutique Sanders Roberts ($664,000); Greenberg Traurig ($398,000); Canada’s Blake, Cassels & Graydon ($275,500); and Seyfarth Shaw ($272,500).

Cowboy spokeswoman Amy Grimshaw said the company hasn’t sought to acquire assets from either Bird or VanMoof but has relied upon Jones Day for outside counsel. The firm has advised Cowboy on its fundraising efforts and has helped the company expand its operations as others faltered.

“We admire businesses innovating in mobility, recognizing the challenge of shifting people from cars, so it’s sad to hear that some players are facing difficulties,” Grimshaw said. She added that Cowboy’s “longstanding partnership with Jones Day has been pivotal during our six-year growth journey,” with Karolczyk’s hire marking a commitment to recruit “top-tier” in-house talent.

Karolczyk, an expert in EU law who during her time at Apple worked with consumer technology brands, said via Cowboy she’s “thrilled” to take on her first legal chief role at the company. In a statement posted to LinkedIn, Karolczyk said she was drawn to Cowboy by a desire to bring her skills to a “new and innovative space” for a product changing the cycling industry.