Stock of British electric moped brand Zapp hits skids months after US listing

The company has lost much of its value after market scepticism about startups' prospects

The future of the British brand Zapp looked promising as its top team gathered around one of its electric mopeds and stared up at a billboard bearing its logo close to Times Square, New York, in May. They threw their arms aloft as they marked the six-year-old company's listing on the Nasdaq stock exchange, in a deal valuing it at $573m (467m). Another billboard declared: Simply Electric. No compromise." On social media, Zapp wrote: All excited and ready for the next chapter! Live life unplugged."

Six months on, the stock has hit the skids, and now has a market cap of $12.5m, according to the Nasdaq, and Zapp looks increasingly like it will join a host of British vehicle companies which have seen their US listing turn into an investors' short stay car park.