Bird Global operates affordable, on-demand e-scooters and e-bikes in more than 350 cities across the United States, Canada, Europe, the Middle East, and Australia. Founded in 2017 by Travis VanderZanden and headquartered in Miami, FL, the company emphasizes a community-first approach and partners closely with cities. Bird secured additional funding this year, bringing total new capital to almost $33 million. The funding strengthens Bird's liquidity position after the company reported a second consecutive quarter of positive adjusted EBITDA. Management expects $15–20 million in adjusted EBITDA and $5–10 million in free cash flow this year, and the new capital is intended to help the company achieve those targets. Bird operates a fleet of electric scooters and bikes and says that fleet generates strong cash flow. The company plans to manufacture “tens or hundreds of thousands” of vehicles over the next year equipped with a new location-based sidewalk riding detection technology, a program that requires large upfront capital. To support expansion, Bird secured an upsized vehicle financing facility that it says improves liquidity and capital efficiency, particularly for vehicle purchases made in winter. The financing arrangement lets Apollo fund the vast majority of vehicle purchases while Bird pays a small upfront amount and repays the balance as vehicles generate revenue over about nine months. Bird’s CFO attributed the upsized facility to the fleet’s cash-generating capabilities, and Bird has stated an objective to fund the majority of vehicle CapEx with financing going forward. The company is also poised to become publicly listed via a SPAC business combination with Switchback II Corporation. Bird provides shared e-scooter micromobility solutions and has expanded its footprint by acquiring Circ, a Berlin-based shared e-scooter operator. Circ operates across 43 cities in 12 countries and has a presence in the Middle East; it was founded by Lukasz Gadowski. The combined company will add more than 300 employees to Bird's European operations. Bird intends to use the new funds to increase vehicle development and research initiatives and to support European expansion plans. Financially, Bird announced a $75M extension to its Series D, bringing that round to $350M in total. The company says the combined operations will provide streamlined services for cities aiming to reduce carbon emissions and congestion. Bird operates shared electric scooters and a growing range of micro-mobility vehicles, including scooters, bicycles, mopeds and a two-seater hybrid called the Bird Cruiser. The company also sells scooters directly to consumers in addition to its shared fleet. Bird reports its newer Bird Zero scooters account for more than 75% of its fleet and achieved positive unit economics, though that figure was based on a four-week summer period. Prior to this round Bird had raised more than $400 million and reached a $2 billion valuation last June. The company recently acquired Scoot in a deal worth less than $25 million to expand into traditional bicycles and mopeds. Bird says it will use the new funding to continue research and development across its variety of vehicles. Bird operates dockless electric scooters that users can unlock by scanning a code for short urban trips, targeting last-mile transportation. The company has rapidly scaled presence in cities such as Los Angeles but faces municipal pushback in places like San Francisco where scooters were kicked off sidewalks. Bird secured substantial investor enthusiasm, completing a $300M funding round that coincided with a jump in reported valuation from about $300M in March to $1B in May and $2B by the end of June. Less than a year old at the time, Bird described its first product as an MVP with encouraging unit economics as it refines operations. Suppliers such as Xiaomi provide scooters, and investors noted tariffs would likely not break the unit economics. Bird has also recruited senior talent from venture capital, including Paige Craig as VP of business, as it prepares for further expansion.

Total raised

$915M

Funding rounds

7

Latest round

Debt Financing

Latest activity

Oct 2021