Every year, 2 million bikes are stolen in America - and those are just the ones reported to police. On the latest episode of The Pitch Show, Marine Mike Burton pitches his solution to this problem. A military-grade smart bike lock installed at bike racks across a city, so that riders can secure their bikes for free! But that's just the tip of this startup iceberg.
A Marine's Mission
After an injury ended his intelligence career in 2015, Burton moved his family to Bentonville, Arkansas - home to over 600 miles of bike paths. On one fateful bike ride to the farmers market, Burton forgot to bring the bike locks. Standing guard over the family's bikes while everyone else shopped, he had an epiphany: "How do we have self-driving cars and I have to carry around this clunky bike lock?"
The Smart Solution
Lockstop created a smart lock that mounts directly to existing bike racks. The system is deceptively simple - cyclists use an app to scan a QR code, lock their bike, and go. But inside that simple exterior is some serious technology:
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Tamper detection that listens for grinding sounds from a chain cutter
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Environmental sensors for micro-climate data
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Battery life of 2+ months (extending to 3-months with integrated solar)
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A mounting system so secure it takes 65 seconds to cut through with industrial tools
Why Cities Are Buying In
Rather than charge cyclists, Lockstop sells directly to cities for $750 per device. This might sound expensive for a bike lock, but it's a bargain compared to the $5,000-20,000 cities currently spend on individual trip counters. Each Lockstop device provides:
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Accurate bike traffic counting
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Environmental monitoring
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Real-time theft alerts
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Data on how far cyclists will travel
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Insights for urban planning
"She said you can charge me effectively anything for this device and I don't think I'd have any issues getting them approved," Burton recalls of one city planner's reaction.
The Data Play
While the hardware is impressive, the real value is in the data. Lockstop generates about $750 per device annually from data monetization. Cities can use this information to:
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Support grant applications
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Plan new bike infrastructure
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Measure environmental impact
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Understand cycling patterns
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Track progress on sustainability goals
Beyond Bikes
The platform has potential beyond just bicycle security. Burton sees applications for:
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Ski and snowboard locks at resorts
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Marina and boat security
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University campus bike sharing
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Corporate campus transportation
The Road Ahead
With two city partners signed and two more selecting deployment locations, Lockstop is targeting five initial cities before expanding. Their five-year goal is ambitious: 291 cities and $60 million in revenue.
"We don't want to dilute any early investors, people that saw the vision," says Burton. "The faster that we can get to that cash flow positive, which is limited by the number of networks that we have deployed, then the better off we're going to be."
The challenge now is scaling while maintaining the quality that got cities excited in the first place. But if anyone can handle that pressure, it's probably an ex-Marine intelligence officer with a killer mustache and a mission to make cities more livable, one bike rack at a time.
