Our portfolio company Bike Shed Moto Co, which is preserving and celebrating motorcycle culture, has announced that it is moving into the next phase of its international expansion with a new venue opening in Dubai next year.

This will be its first franchise site, and it will be modelled around the best elements of its London and LA destination venues.

The first venue opened in Shoreditch in 2015, which has a “ride-by” style entrance and offers a restaurant and bar, alongside a café, lounge, retail emporium, tattoo parlour, barbershop and more.

Following the success of this flagship London site, Growthdeck took part in a funding round to help support the launch of the first American venue, which opened in the heart of the Los Angeles Arts District in spring 2022.

The new Dubai franchise site is set for construction this year and is due to open in 2026, paving the way to replicate the model in new territories.

The company is led by husband and wife co-founders Dutch and Vikki van Someren. Dutch spent 28 years in the media industry, which included leadership roles at MTV, the BBC and WPP, while Vikki is a former Commercial Director at HarperCollins and has also held senior roles at Virgin Media, EMAP and Ministry of Sound.

In addition to their destination venues, they also host an internationally recognised annual show in London which is now in its fourteenth year.

They started the Bike Shed Moto Show to fill a gap in the market for an event which is more akin to a festival than a motorcycle trade fair.

Drawing up to 20,000 attendees, it attracts sponsorship and participation from all the major manufacturers, and the business is now planning to take the show to other countries following widespread demand.

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