Swapfiets just made its biggest move yet. On May 18, 2026, Swapfiets acquires Dance, the Berlin-based urban e-Bike brand, in a deal that significantly reshapes the European micro-mobility subscription market. The acquisition adds over 11,000 high-quality e-Bikes to the Swapfiets fleet and pushes the combined total of subscribed e-Bikes on the road past 75,000.
That’s a meaningful number in a market where subscription models are gaining traction across European cities. Together, the two companies now serve around 280,000 members across 45 cities, covering both city bikes and e-Bikes.
Two Brands, One Goal:
Swapfiets is keeping the Dance brand alive and running it as a separate product line. This dual-brand approach gives urban commuters a clear choice based on how they want to interact with the service.
Swapfiets remains the option for riders who prefer in-store support, hands-on service, and direct help when something goes wrong. Dance caters to a different segment, specifically commuters who want a fully digital, app-first experience with no need to visit a physical location. Both serve the same core need, just through different channels.
Marc de Vries, CEO of Swapfiets, put it simply: the goal is to have a subscription bike at every bike rack in Europe’s major cities. With this acquisition, that goal gets a lot more achievable.
What Changes for Dance Members:
Christian Springub, co-founder and CEO of Dance, stays in his role and continues leading the Dance brand under the Swapfiets umbrella. The existing Dance team handles day-to-day operations, meaning current Dance members see no disruption.
Both companies now share knowledge across hardware and digital product development. Dance’s app-based user experience and Swapfiets’ operational infrastructure are two different strengths, and combining them creates a service model that can scale across more cities more efficiently.
Paris, Berlin, and Hamburg in Focus:
The deal has a clear geographic angle. Swapfiets strengthens its position in Berlin and Hamburg, two cities where it already operates, and takes on a leading role in Paris, a market where Dance had established real presence. The acquisition is backed by Pon Holdings, the global mobility group that owns Swapfiets and supports its goal of making urban transport more sustainable at scale.
Paris is one of the most active cycling cities in Europe right now, with significant infrastructure investment over the past few years driving a surge in daily bike commuters. Having a strong e-Bike subscription presence there is a strategic advantage, not just a vanity metric.
The Bigger Picture for Urban Mobility:
The e-Bike subscription model solves a specific problem that ownership doesn’t. Maintenance, theft risk, and upfront cost are real barriers for city commuters. A flat monthly fee that covers the bike, repairs, and replacements removes all three.
Swapfiets has operated on this logic since 2014, when three students in the Netherlands started the company. It’s now a B Corp-certified scale-up with over 270,000 members across six countries: the Netherlands, Germany, Belgium, Denmark, France, and the UK. Adding Dance’s 11,000 e-Bikes and its Paris footprint is a natural extension of that model.
For anyone following the Bicycle as a Service space, the Swapfiets x Dance deal is the clearest signal yet that the e-Bike subscription market in Europe is consolidating around a few strong players. Swapfiets is positioning itself as that anchor across Western Europe.
