Bikes
Copenhagen Cycles
Our story

Every trishaw we ship funds Cycling Without Age

Copenhagen Cycles exists for two reasons — to get trishaws out to every corner of the world, and to keep the wheels of Cycling Without Age turning everywhere they touch down.

Ole Kassow, co-founder
Founded 2016

Why Copenhagen Cycles exists

Copenhagen Cycles was founded in 2016 by Ole Kassow and Dorthe Pedersen. Back then, it was either impossible or very difficult to get hold of trishaws in countries like the United States, Canada, or Australia.

Every day we heard from someone wanting to start a chapter of Cycling Without Age in a country where trishaws simply weren't available. Copenhagen Cycles was our answer — a single place to source, ship, and support trishaws worldwide, with every sale feeding the non-profit movement behind the rides.

Keeping the wheels turning

The biggest funder of Cycling Without Age

We commit substantial amounts of Copenhagen Cycles' profits to Cycling Without Age. As an Ashoka Fellow, Ole is further committed to reinvesting — for at least 10 years — any surplus or revenue of Copenhagen Cycles, excluding a reasonable salary, into the enterprise, related projects, or other socially beneficial aims.

Copenhagen Cycles is by far the biggest funder of Cycling Without Age. Crucially, we don't impose an agenda on CWA or how funds are allocated — unlike most grants from governments or foundations. It's our way of keeping the non-profit independent from political or religious agendas while bringing more trishaws into the world.

What your purchase funds

Four things your trishaw pays for

1,000+ local chapters

Cycling Without Age has helped over 1,000 local chapters around the world get started. Becoming an affiliate is free of charge — we cover the setup so volunteers can focus on the rides.

20+ country chapters

More than 20 country chapters (partners) have been helped through the process of forming and incorporating in their country — with more receiving support right now.

Shaping every major trishaw

CWA has been involved in the design of the Christiania, Triobike, Nihola and Van Raam Chat — plus 8 other models that never made it to market. That design work benefits every affiliate worldwide.

The global IT platform

The Hood — CWA's community of practice — and the global network of chapter websites run on infrastructure we help build, maintain, and make freely available.

Beyond that, Cycling Without Age radically innovates to bring trishaws out to less affluent countries and regions around the world. Your purchase is what makes that possible.

Thank you
I sincerely thank you for supporting Cycling Without Age by purchasing your trishaw from Copenhagen Cycles. Take care — and see you on the road.
Ole Kassow · Co-founder, Copenhagen Cycles & Cycling Without Age
Meet the founder

Ole Kassow

I'm an advocate of doing good. I believe relationships should be a human right, and I'm passionate about cycling. My father was in a wheelchair my whole life, and he taught me the importance of mobility — and of being respectful to people with disabilities.

After years working as a consultant and in sales, I changed my path and created the company Purpose Makers. In 2012 I founded Cycling Without Age. To my surprise, in 2016 I was approached by the Ashoka network — and in 2017, after 8 months of scrutiny, I was proudly able to call myself an Ashoka Fellow.

Ashoka identifies and supports the world's leading social entrepreneurs, learns from the patterns in their innovations, and mobilizes a global community that embraces these new frameworks to build an "everyone a changemaker" world.

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Company details

Copenhagen Cycles ApS

Address

Rentemestervej 80
2400 København NV
Denmark

Get in touch

hi@copenhagencycles.com
+45 53 62 19 79

Ownership

  • Pernille Vedersø Bussone (Director) — 50%
  • Bouncing Back ApS (Ole Kassow) — 50%
Ready when you are

Let's get a trishaw rolling in your community

Tell us where you are, how you'll use it, and who'll ride — we'll match you to the right model and handle the logistics from Copenhagen.