Funding For Scooters Soars As Lime Looks To Secure $250M More

Morning Report: According to reports, scooter and bike sharing company Lime is planning to raise $250 million or more, adding to the heated battle between scooters on U.S. streets.

Lime, a scooter and bikesharing company that has contributed to two of the heated battles in the sharing economy in 2017 and 2018, is looking to raise $250 million, according to Axios. The round will reportedly be led by GV with participation from previous investors Coatue Management and Andreessen Horowitz. According to Axios, “Lime was seeking to raise up to $500 million in a combination of equity and debt, but the latter is currently on hold.”

Follow Crunchbase News on Twitter & Facebook 

Lime recently raised a second $70 million Series B tranche in February of this year led by Southern California-based Fifth Wall, adding to its prior $50 million Series B infusion from last October. If Lime closes this latest round, the new capital would bring its aggregate funding to more than $382 million.

Last week, Crunchbase News reported on Sequoia-backed Bird’s potential $1 billion valuation and what that means for the industry, finding that Bird burns a lot of cash in its quest to become the dominant player and generate revenue. With both Lime and Bird pursuing funding in the space, total capital for the leading players in the scooter sharing industry could potentially reach $655 million. A third main player, Spin, has raised $8 million total.

This is the latest turn of events in the fast-moving electric scooter race. The competition has, frankly, plagued the streets of San Francisco, resulting in regulatory backlash over safety and congestion concerns.

Scooter companies Bird, Lime, and Spin, which unleashed their two-wheeled adult toys without permission in March, were ordered to remove their scooters from San Francisco’s streets by yesterday. Of course, Lime and Spin are not new to regulations, as their bike sharing initiatives, similarly motivated by an eagerness to gain market dominance, have previously run into government issues.

But don’t fret, with investors and the potential for scooter dominance on the line, the companies are in the process of applying for permits that could bring their scooters back in a couple of weeks, according to the San Francisco Chronicle.

From The Crunchbase Daily:

Bird and Lime securing huge sums for scooters

People who hate seeing their cities overrun with masses of stand-up scooters got some bad news. Bird, the fast-growing Santa Monica-based scooter sharing startup, has authorized a $200 million financing round at a valuation around $1 billion. Meanwhile, rival Lime is reportedly seeking to raise $250 million in a financing led by Google’s GV.

Adyen plans $1B IPO

Dutch payments company Adyen plans to raise between $1 billion and $1.1 billion in an offering on the Euronext Amsterdam exchange next week. The IPO is one of a few closely watched tech offerings expected in the next couple weeks.

Real estate firm launches $100M VC fund

Commercial real estate giant Jones Lang LaSalle launched a new corporate fund called JLL Spark Global Venture Fund that plans to invest up to $100 million in startups using technology to improve property development, management, leasing, investing, and tenant experience.

Startups still trying to beat Craiglist

A raft of startups, backed by deep-pocketed venture capital firms, are looking to take on the stubbornly successful flip phone of the classifieds industry piece by piece.

Illustration Credit: Li Anne Dias