Dockless electric scooters first started appearing on US city streets in 2017, and since then have exploded in popularity across the world. Like ride-sharing, these compact two-wheelers were eagerly adopted by riders, kicking off what is seen as a revolution in micromobility. They can be a fun and easy way to make short trips, and startups like Bird and Lime are using that to raise huge amounts of cash. But critics complain they block sidewalks and cause injuries, and cities have struggled to manage their growth, which suggests that the scooter wars have only just begun.
The new $3,299 Hyperion Solar scooter reaches speeds of up to 65mph and offers a range of up to 70 miles. I know there are other scooters out there that can go even faster than this, but I’m too scared to go over 15mph on my Segway F-SE.
The Miami-based electric scooter rental company has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in Southern Florida, despite its best efforts. Last year, Bird admitted that it had overstated its revenue for at least two years.
The company will continue to operate while it works through a restructuring agreement with its creditors, and notes that its European and Canadian business arms are unaffected by the bankruptcy.
Taiwan’s oft-imitated battery-swapping scooter company never quite took the world by storm but continues to impress with urban e-transport options like this new CrossOver. It’s a swankier take on the Cake Ösa I reviewed last year, with its high ground clearance and oodles of cargo lashing points that help make city escapes that much easier.
The struggling scooter company merged with Bird Canada, an independently owned micromobility business from up north, in a deal that valued it at $64 million. As Oversharing’s Alison Griswold notes, the deal was less of a merger and more of a reverse-takeover.
The big question is whether the proudly Canadian Bird Canada team is right to believe that it can turn Bird Global around and get it to profitability. The merger release says the goal is for Bird to reach adjusted EBITDA profitability on a full year basis in 2023, and presumably for straightforward EBITDA profitability to follow after that. The immediate infusion of $4 million in cash should give Bird Global some breathing room, with more to follow assuming the transaction is completed.
[oversharing.substack.com]
As noted by Oversharing’s Alison Griswold, the scooter sharing company is so strapped for cash that its hounding current and former customers for literal pennies. People are understandably pissed off. Bird, which admitted last month to overstating its revenue for two-plus years, is rapidly running out of cash and may not have enough money to stay in business. Has anyone checked the couch cushions?
Bird issued a “going concern” warning last night, disclosing that it may not have enough money to keep going for another 12 months. The warning came hours after the scooter company admitted to the SEC that it had overstated its revenue for two years and that its financial reports from 2020 and 2021 can “no longer be relied upon,” And its stock price is still trading under $1-per-share, putting Bird at risk of being delisted. What a crummy week for the scooter sharing pioneer.
[Bird Global, Inc.]
