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A year after Onyx Motorbikes owner James Khatibloudied abruptly , allow customers with unfulfilled orders and millions in unpaid debt , the brand has been revived by its original founder .
“ I ’m excited to announce I have upraise my original brand Onyx with unbelievable angel ! ” founder Tim Seward wrote in aLinkedIn poston Monday . “ Onyx is literally back to the future now ! ”
The troupe is selling only about 100 RCRs galvanizing stain bikes to take off . It ’s not clean if those are newly produce units , or if these are part of the batch of east - bikes made earlier this year by Onyx ’s Taiwanese supplier that were being held in oblivion after Khatiblou ’s death .
Seward did not answer in time to TechCrunch to provide data on the troupe ’s resurrection and which investors he procure to back the company .
Seward , who has designed e - bikes for Bird and Ubco , built what would be the first Onyx e - bike , the RCR , in 2016 . After launching the company with an Indiegogo effort two years later , that design became a hit among a fad follow of customers who loved the made - in - the - USA feel , the 1980s ingathering of the design complete with a wooden soundbox , and the hefty capability of the bike .
In 2019 , Seward offloaded his stake in Onyx to his Quaker and former Colorado - worker , Khatiblou , who stumble as a first - time owner as he tried to scale the ship’s company . Many of the decisiveness he made created a WWW of sound and financial trouble that still has n’t been untangled . Khatiblou died with no will and no sequence architectural plan , a knottiness that undercoat all operations , let in customer livery and payments to suppliers and creditors , to a halt .
Oxygen Funding , an Orange County - establish creditor , has claimed it is owe $ 2.2 million in debt . In May , Oxygen undertake to petition the Los Angeles County probate will tourist court to become the administrator of Khatiblou ’s estate , which would allow for it to control Onyx ’s remaining assets and , ostensibly , sell those assets to repay itself .
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Oxygen CEO Adam Lomax separate TechCrunch on Tuesday he had no noesis of Onyx ’s revival under Seward . He also take down that Oxygen ’s petition to hold Khatiblou ’s demesne is still in limbo , pending an as - yet unassigned court date , and that his party still has not been pay off back .
Oxygen was n’t the only creditor fighting for a bit of Onyx . Per a 2019 operating concord , Kenneth Ames , aformer engineering and source executivein the LED lighting business free-base in Simi Valley , and Troy Smith , aself - engage accountantbased in Carlsbad , hold a 37.5 % percentage interest in Onyx LLC . Onyx LLC is also the entity that possess Onyx ’s branding , according to a stylemark assignment arrangement .
It ’s not clear-cut whether Ames and Smith are imply in Onyx ’s revival . TechCrunch has pass out to Ames , Troy , and their counsel to learn more . TechCrunch will update the article if they answer .
