Martijn Lammers — Co-Founder
It was a year ago when I wrote this article from our very first office (we have been on the move), back when we were with just the five of us. It feels so much longer ago now. The past year has been an exciting year for Lightyear in many ways. Of course some things were harder than expected but I think it is safe to say that we came a very long way and are on course to reach our first big goal; realising Lightyear One. We started out with just the 5 founders and a small group of enthusiast part-timers, much has changed.
Lightyear Investor Cafe
Around the same time I wrote the article, we were preparing our first investor cafe which would take us a huge step forward. During this evening we asked our network to help us to take Lightyear a step further. And with success, we were able to sign our first partnership with a renowned Italian automotive design company.
This partnership allowed us to make yet another giant leap forward in making our plans clear to the outside world: We now had an image we could show. We did not want to just put this image out in the world, we wanted to make sure people noticed. So we invited journalists from the largest Dutch television stations and were featured in the evening news that same day. Internationally we got attention from other very respectable news outlets.
This step into the open sparked two things: We started gathering reservations for Lightyear One, and we started growing our team. Just after the summer, the team consisted out of 10 full-timers, and the first pioneers had reserved a total of 5 Lightyear One car.
The Green Challenge Finalists
As the year went on, we focused on getting an excellent team together to help achieve our ambitious goals. As of now, we are over 30 talented people strong. While this was harder than expected, we are very proud to have built a team consisting of experienced automotive professionals combined with young talent. In the meanwhile, we continued to receive reservations for the Lightyear One.
Marko, our project manager, talking about why people should work at Lightyear
At the end of 2017, during a dinner with our team, we got to know group of these first pioneers and explained our vision on our product a bit more. What especially stood out to me, was the revelation we are creating a network of very interesting people around us!
2018 started with a bang as well, we joined StartupDelta on a trip to CES, an enormous consumer electronics show. There we got the chance to present Lightyear to a very international crowd. What’s more, we got to take the Climate Change Innovators Award home. This prize is awarded to the companies which have the biggest potential for CO2 reduction.
Lightyear at CES
Congrats. @lightyear_cars from great to greatest! https://t.co/ozvm6Uz4i2
— Constantijn (@constantijn14) January 12, 2018
As you can see, the Dutch prince Constantijn was there as well. We got the opportunity to join him for a couple of very interesting meetings, a dinner with the Silicon Valley Bank and a group of American investors for example.
Looking ahead, 2018 looks like it is going to be another successful year. We have started out with some really nice additions to the team, which we will be able to announce later. Moreover, you can expect a lot more details about the Lightyear One this year. Our team now consists of more than 30 enthusiasts, working hard on designing and prototyping to make the Lightyear One an exceptional product.
Expect updates about our partners, customers and awesome team soon!
Follow us on our journey!
Interested in regular updates? Subscribe to our newsletter here.
[contact-form-7]
The post Looking back: The story of a year of Lightyear appeared first on Lightyear.