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Founder & Brand
- Founder: Luke Sinclair (with Kendall Bristow)
- Brand: FTN Motion
- Category: Electric motorcycles (urban mobility)
- Stage: Founded 2019 → Raised angel investment → Now 8 staff in NZ, planning Australia expansion
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Quick Navigation
- Startup Rollercoaster
- Case Study
- Key Takeaways
- About the Founder & Interviewer
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When Luke Sinclair and Kendall Bristow finished engineering school, they weren’t aiming to build the next Tesla. They just wanted to work on something meaningful. A homemade electric moped — duct-taped batteries on an old push bike frame — became the unlikely seed for FTN Motion, a motorcycle startup rethinking how two-wheelers fit into urban life.
FTN Motion are a New Zealand based startup, transforming urban transport and decarbonising the journey with our ultimate electric motorcycle, the Streetdog.
The journey since has been anything but smooth. Luke recalls the early hype — a viral news story bringing in 100 pre-orders overnight — followed by a sobering reality: supply chain crunches, cash cycles stretching four months, and growth forecasts that didn’t match reality. Over time, FTN has matured into a design-led, manufacturing-first brand with global potential. Their story is one of purpose meeting pragmatism — and of what it really takes to build hardware in New Zealand.
Startup Rollercoaster
⚡️ FTN Motion has kept moving forward by cutting back, resetting expectations, and having investors who valued reality over hype.
The Spark – Two Friends, One Idea
- Lifelong friends, engineers, and adventurers — tinkering with electric mopeds while walking the length of New Zealand.
- Scrappy prototypes: exploding welds, glad-wrapped batteries, cheap motors.
- Realisation: with just a single electric motor, no oil changes, and zero emissions, it was the simplest and cleanest way to commute.
The Peak – Design Breakthrough & Viral Buzz
- Unique Streetdog layout: battery under seat + large front storage.
- Wellington chosen as “test city”: dense, hilly, ideal for early adopters.
- Stuff.co.nz article (2021) → 💥 100 pre-orders in a week.
- Angel investment flowed in, confidence soared.
The Drop – Harsh Reality of Hardware
- Forecasts naïve (10 bikes/week vs. reality: 1.5).
- Cash crunch: parts must be paid for months before customer revenue arrives.