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Niu Technologies

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Niu Technologies
Company typePublic
ISINUS65481N1000
IndustryVehicle manufacturing, eMobility
Founded2014; 11 years ago (2014)
FounderLi Yi'nan, Token Yilin Hu
HeadquartersBeijing, China
Key people
Yan Li
Revenue
  • Decrease US$459 million (2022)
  • US$581 million (2021)
  • Decrease-US$7 million (2022)
  • US$35 million (2021)
Number of employees
500-800
Websitewww.niu.com

Niu Technologies (Chinese: 牛电科技; stylized as NIU) is an electric scooter company headquartered in Beijing, China.[1] Yan Li has been its CEO and COO since December 2017.[2][3]

Niu Technologies (Chinese: 牛电科技; stylized as NIU) is a publicly traded Chinese company that designs, manufactures and sells smart electric two-wheeled vehicles including scooters, mopeds, electric bicycles, kick-scooters, electric motorcycles and ATVs. Niu vehicles include digital displays, Bluetooth connectivity, and mobile apps that let users track their rides, map their routes and monitor battery life.[4][5]

As of December 31, 2024, NIU had 57 distributors across 53 countries, alongside sales through its own online store and third-party e-commerce platforms. In China, the company worked with 499 city partners and 3,735 franchised stores. For its micro-mobility products, NIU developed offline retail channels through partners such as Best Buy in the United States and MediaMarkt in Europe, giving it a presence in over 1,000 physical locations in those regions by the end of 2024.

History

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The company was founded in 2014 by Baidu's former chief technology officer, Li Yinan, and Token Yilin Hu. The first Niu scooters were crowdfunded.[6] It differentiated itself by using lithium-ion batteries as opposed to the cheaper lead-acid alternatives widely used in Chinese e-scooters at the time.[7]

In 2015, the company launched its first electric scooters through a crowdfunding campaign, which became China’s most successful campaign and one of the top ten globally, raising over USD 11 million in 15 days.

In 2017, NIU introduced the UQi-Series.

In 2018, NIU listed on the NASDAQ stock exchange under the ticker symbol NIU [8], and the MQi model received seven internationally recognized design awards, including the Red Dot Award.

In 2019, In 2019, Revel Transit launched in New York City with 1,000 Niu electric scooters, later expanding to Washington DC, Austin and Miami.[9] That same year NIU launched the NQi GTS, UQi+, MQi GT, and UQi GT models.

In 2020, NIU unveiled the RQi and TQi concept vehicles.

In 2021, the company expanded its product portfolio to include electric bikes.[10]

In 2022, NIU reported more than three million users worldwide and launched several new models, including the KQi2 Series, KQi1 Series, BQi-C3 Pro, and KQi Youth Series.

In 2023, NIU announced the XQi3,[11][12] its first electric dirt bike, offered in both street-legal and off-road versions. It also introduced the KQi3 Max, KQi Air Series, and XQi3 Series.

In 2024, NIU launched direct-to-consumer sales channels in North America, reported global sales of 924,340 units (with most sales in China), and introduced new models including the KQi 300 Series, KQi 100 Series, NQiX Series, FQi Series, and NIU Powersports.

Products

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Niu Smart Electric Scooter in a Miami, Florida showroom.

Electric scooters (street legal mopeds): NQiX, NQi, MQi, UQi, FQi Series

Electric motorcycles: RQi

Electric dirt bike: XQi3 (street-legal and off-road variants; introduced 2023, D2C sales launched 2024).

Electric bicycles / bikes: BQi, Niu Aero Sports Bicycles (company expanded into e-bikes in 2021).

Kick-scooters: KQi series, KQi1, KQi2, KQi3, KQi 100, KQi 200, KQi 300, KQi Air.

Children’s electric vehicles: KQi Youth.

NIU Powersports / ATVs: NIUNV and NIURC (marketed under NIU Powersports).[13]

Electric micro-car: NIUMM.

Sales

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As of 2018, it had sold over 200,000 electric vehicles in 50 countries, and had a market share of 60% in the European electric scooter market.

NIU reported 924,340 units sold in 2024 and has stated ambitions to grow unit sales substantially in 2025. The company’s full-year 2024 sales volume and revenue growth were driven mainly by China demand; in 2024 NIU reported that the China market accounted for the majority of e-scooter revenues while international kick-scooter sales and accessories contributed an increasing share. Historically NIU has worked with sharing platforms (for example Revel in the U.S. and several European partners) and with retail chains and online channels for D2C sales.

Finances

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Sales also include bulk scooters sold to rideshare companies.

It had nearly $300M in revenue in 2019.[14] It has raised over US$125 million in funding from investors.

In its March 17, 2025 release covering the fourth quarter and full year 2024, NIU reported full-year 2024 revenues of RMB 3,288.3 million (up 24.0% year-over-year) and a full-year net loss of RMB 193.2 million (an improvement from 2023).

Year[15] Total Revenue

(US$ Mil)

Net Income

(US$ Mil)

2018 215 -50
2019 298 27
2020 375 25
2021 581 35
2022 459 -7
2023 373 38
2024 450 26

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Niu Technologies - Company Profile and News". Bloomberg.com. Archived from the original on 2023-12-28. Retrieved 2020-11-06.
  2. ^ "Yan Li, Niu Technologies: Profile and Biography". Bloomberg.com. Archived from the original on 2021-04-20. Retrieved 2021-04-20.
  3. ^ Kharpal, Arjun (2021-01-08). "Nasdaq-listed Chinese electric scooter firm Niu Technologies jumps 16% after sales bump". CNBC. Archived from the original on 2023-04-07. Retrieved 2021-04-20.
  4. ^ "niu". niu. Archived from the original on 2023-11-10. Retrieved 2022-07-05.
  5. ^ Toll, Micah (2018-06-13). "New NIUs: Chinese electric scooter maker unveils latest two models designed for the streets of Europe". Electrek. Archived from the original on 2022-07-05. Retrieved 2022-07-05.
  6. ^ Cheng, Evelyn (2018-09-26). "Chinese scooter start-up Niu is taking over Beijing streets, growing quickly in Europe, and is now filing for a US IPO". CNBC. Archived from the original on 2022-12-24. Retrieved 2024-02-10.
  7. ^ "Chinese escooter maker's stock accelerates 400% on Covid boom". www.ft.com. Archived from the original on 2023-04-09. Retrieved 2020-11-06.
  8. ^ "NIU filings on SEC.gov". www.sec.gov. Archived from the original on 2023-04-07. Retrieved 2020-11-06.
  9. ^ O'Kane, Sean (6 January 2020). "China's NIU starts selling its electric mopeds in the US". The Verge. Archived from the original on 12 January 2021. Retrieved 4 April 2021.
  10. ^ "Niu Technologies expands into e-bikes to grow international market presence". Bike Europe. 19 October 2021. Archived from the original on 2021-11-13. Retrieved 2021-11-13.
  11. ^ Clos, Jeffrey (2024-01-05). "Niu Technologies Unleashes Its First-Ever Electric Dirt Bike, The XQi3". CodeX. Archived from the original on 2024-02-14. Retrieved 2024-02-10.
  12. ^ Technologies, N.I.U. "NIU Technologies Launches Its First-Ever Fully Electric Dirt Bike". www.prnewswire.com (Press release). Archived from the original on 2023-11-12. Retrieved 2024-02-10.
  13. ^ "NIU Powersports". www.niu-powersports.com. Retrieved 2024-12-25.
  14. ^ "NIU Technologies, NIU:NMQ profile - FT.com". markets.ft.com. Archived from the original on 2023-04-08. Retrieved 2020-11-06.
  15. ^ "Niu Technologies Financials". nasdaq. Archived from the original on 2022-10-20. Retrieved 2022-10-16.
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