Lycan Motorcycles: Giving Filipinos The Ride They Need To The Future

Lycan Motorcycles is a Philippine-based company that manufactures and sells electric motorcycles. It was founded in 2020 with the goal of making personalized motorcycles more accessible and affordable. They are known for their sleek and modern designs, as well as their innovative features, such as swappable batteries and smart connectivity. 

The company currently offers three models of electric motorcycles: the Atlas, the G6, and the Shyft. The Atlas is a short-distance stand-up electric mobility scooter that is perfect for commuting or running errands. The G6 is a high-power and high-performance electric cruiser motorcycle. Lastly, Shyft is an electric scooter motorcycle built for everyday use and longer distances. 

Lycan motorcycles is still relatively new to the market, but they have quickly gained a following among Filipino riders. The company is committed to providing its customers with the best possible riding experience, and it is constantly innovating to improve its products and services. With that, why don’t you join me in learning more about Lycan Motorcycles with its CEO, John Gangat.

What inspired the creation of Lycan Motorcycles, and what sets it apart from other motorcycle manufacturers?

Growing up, I was always an outcast. When people around me listened to hip hop and pop, I was the one kid listening to rock music while sketching on the back of my notebook. To try to blend in, I joined my school's football and basketball team. I tried to be everywhere to find my purpose. While my friends talked about basketball, I sat quietly observing the people around me to try to better understand how I could join the conversation. In college, it was the same thing. I had friends but had no permanent circles I hung around with outside the University. But the beautiful thing about it, I guess, is that I was never afraid to be alone. I enjoyed my own company as a lone wolf.

And the first time I ever rode a motorcycle, with the cold wind on my face, the sound of the bellowing engine between my legs, the sight of stars on a clear night sky, I felt alive and I felt in control of my own destiny. I made my own journey regardless of the destination. I didn't feel afraid of getting lost because by getting lost, I found the right path. And for Lycan, I wanted others to feel what I felt, with the sense of belongingness through motorcycling. I know there are thousands of lone wolves like me out there, and I know that if I get to bring them all together, under the banner of a Filipino motorcycle company, sharing the same goals, ambitions, and passions for the ride, I could make them feel a little less alone in life.

I believe this is how we are different from other manufacturers. Lycan's products and how we shape our company are not designed and engineered by just a couple of people inside an office room. Rather, our products are made by all Filipinos who contribute and share their ideas openly, the problems they face, and the vision of what a perfect ride means for them. And we simply make it a reality. It's a communal effort that makes us agile, adaptive, and responsive to the needs of our customers.

I gather all lone wolves out there and form a strong and independent wolf pack. Because I know that for every lone wolf out there lies the key to transforming the Philippines into something better. And that's why together we are called Lycans.

What technological advancements or unique features does Lycan Motorcycles offer that cater to the modern rider's needs?

We are trying to make our vehicles smart enough that it would foster safety, convenience, and several opportunities for our riders to customize and to modify the ride in a sense that matches their riding preferences. Another unique feature that we have presented to the market a few years ago, is the ability for the customers to customize the appearance and look of their Lycan motorcycle from scratch using our platform and software. This software is similar to the user interface found in the Need for Speed video games. Customers can play around with the design using pre-designed parts and components that they can mix and match around before it is manufactured and assembled. So when we manufacture it, it's already based on the design of the customer. They don't need to go to third party service providers to have it customized.  Another feature is Lycan Motorcycles is a motorcycle manufacturer, a technology company, and a solutions provider. This includes not only in terms of maintenance and repair, but also with technology. For example, software that they can install inside their vehicles, upgrades and customizations, and in charging facilities.

Those are some of the advancements and unique features that we offer to our clients, not just within the product itself, but through the experience, the customer journey, and the customer experience from purchasing up to usage. A key advantage is that we can partner with a lot of tech companies and service providers to help us bring more innovation for our customers, not just on a product level but on an experience level.

Could you share any upcoming projects or innovations that Lycan Motorcycles has in the pipeline? How does Lycan Motorcycles plan to expand its global reach and impact in the motorcycle industry in the coming years?

Aside from the new models that we are putting out this year and next year, we are also currently developing our charging infrastructure and battery swapping stations. We’ll probably run the test pilot next year. We have already gotten the interest of several partners who would like to be operators of our battery facility. Moving on to program and software, with the mass customization feature, hopefully we will be able to start rolling out the mass customization application: wherein customers can design their own Lycan product using pre-designed and predetermined design templates. Another project in the pipeline is a smart helmet. This will allow you to communicate with your vehicle. What we envision is that the user can see their dashboard panel within their helmet device. At the same time, they can communicate with their vehicle and run voice commands. 

The problem with riders is that they use their hands to use their mobile phones while riding, which is very dangerous. So if they want to run commands, they just have to do voice commands similar to Siri and Alexa. Those are some of the technologies and features that the smart helmet can provide. It would be an exclusive feature to Lycan Motorcycles only. Our AI software for this is named LUNA, which stands for Lycan Unified Network Assistant. If a rider asks LUNA for the nearest charging station or battery swapping station, it would be able to give the directions and display it on the heads up display. Those are some of the projects we have in line.

How we plan to expand our global reach and impact in the motorcycle industry in the coming years is by perfecting our products, technologies, and business systems here in the Philippines first. Fortunately right now, we have a lot of local interests in distributing our products nationwide. We will be starting there. 

Aside from Metro Manila, we'll also start distributing in Visayas by 2024 and in many other regions with hotspots here in the Philippines. By onboarding shareholding business partners, we’ll build our network of stores, service centers, and infrastructures until we acquire a good share of the market. Once we get enough traction, or at least once we know we are ready, we then begin expanding to Southeast Asian countries like Vietnam, Taiwan, Thailan, Malaysia, and many more. Because definitely by then, all of the technologies, business systems, battery infrastructures, products, revenue models, and features that I have mentioned so far would be complete. Meaning we can only deploy, in full confidence at production level, our AI, motorcycles, our smart helmet, our programs, and applications giving us a huge advantage in the global market. Since the partners we will onboard to operate and manage Lycan stores will all be shareholders of the company, they, too, will benefit from our growth and scaling, making the entire Lycan business model beneficial for all stakeholders.

Our target is to launch an IPO before we begin export and hopefully reach the global market before 2030.

How has the Shell LiveWIRE Acceleration Program helped Lycan Motorcycles with the initiatives that you have for this year or in the near future? 

Firstly, the Shell LiveWIRE Acceleration Program’s biggest help was making Lycan Motorcycles survive. Given the nature of our industry and what we were trying to achieve, it was very difficult. We were on the brink of dying as a company. Fortunately, we were accepted into the Shell LiveWIRE Acceleration Program which helped not only our financing, but it also opened up doors and opportunities for us to keep on pushing. Since being accepted into the acceleration program, we've got more support and kept the morale of the entire team. 

Secondly is of course human mentorship. These valuable lessons were really important in keeping the trajectory of the company. Thirdly is being able to validate and put our company in front of Shell, a lot of other companies, and even to a lot of potential partners. It opened up our network. 

Lastly, it helped us realize how we should focus on trying to be as independent as possible and making our company sustainable from the inside, making external help geared and optimized more for growth and expansion.

Is this the first time Lycan Motorcycles is experiencing IGNITE? If so, which aspect of the conference stood out to? If not, how do you think IGNITE can be helpful to startups like Lycan Motorcycles.

The aspect of the conference that stood out to us is, of course, being able to present our company even without expecting anything in return. Why I say that is because when we came there, we were there to do our job: to present our company in the best way possible and expose ourselves to new audiences and inspire the next generation of founders and innovators. Hopefully for them to realize and see that anything is possible, even with limited support and resources. 

Here at Lycan, we are taking on a gigantic task of being a motorcycle manufacturer. By that alone in itself, it’s very difficult already. Most of the startups that I see and know right now are within the software industry. Being in the hardware and software industry, it's very difficult to get financial support since most of the local VCs are used to software technologies. None of their expertise revolve around hardware, especially motorcycles. The fact that we were able to present ourselves to a panel of judges, students, investors, and aspiring founders, that was one of the best experiences that made IGNITE stand out for us, not because of the award or reputation, but the ability to voice my message.

IGNITE can really help a startup grow by understanding what the founder intends to do, not just on the surface level, but I believe that innovators and founders have ideas even beyond what they see and what they present. In reality, as founders, we can only present what we have done and what is in the near future. But deep inside, there are a lot of ideas and ways to innovate beyond what we present today.

John Gangat is the CEO of Lycan Motorcycles. John's role is incredibly important since he is responsible for setting clear targets and vision, financial and operational management, decision making processes, and stakeholder management among others. As seen in John, he is incredibly passionate about giving Filipinos their very own state-of-the-art, hi-tech, and nationalistic motorcycle, made by a Filipino for the Filipinos.

Visit www.techshake.asia if you would like to know and connect more with Lycan Motorcycles.