Kilkenny tech startup Motoklik has raised €300,000 in seed funding from investors and Enterprise Ireland. The company said the funding will help create 10 jobs and complete the commercial design of its flagship product.

Founded in Kilkenny in 2018 by Jens Köpke (pictured), Motoklik has developed a cloud-based suspension measurement and lap-timing system for use with off-road motorcycles.

Köpke developed the system with help from the European Space Agency (ESA), through its Irish business incubation centre. The Motoklik platform uses AI and machine learning, and links via a mobile app to the suspension position monitoring system that provides racers and race teams with information on the best suspension setup for current track conditions.

Köpke is a former category winner in the Ireland’s Best Young Entrepreneur competition and worked as an R&D engineer with Bausch and Lomb. A keen off-road motorcyclist, he created Motoklik following a crash in 2016 caused by an incorrect suspension setup.

“Where previously data acquisition and management was only for top-end race teams, now our AI and machine learning system can help teams and racers at every level to find the best setup, letting them concentrate on one thing – winning,” said Köpke.

In Association with

The ESA is among the investors in Motoklik. “Motoklik is an interesting example of another Irish company that is utilising Earth observation data to enhance its product offering,” said Peter Finnegan, manager of ESA Solutions Centre Ireland.

As part of the investment round, former Merlyn Showering CFO Michael Kilcommons will join Motoklik’s board of directors. CRO filings show that Enterprise Ireland has invested €150,000 in Motoklik, including €100,000 in the latest fundraiser. Kilcommons invested €125,000.