Bird Takes Off
Venice-based startup Bird Rides Inc has raised $300 million from investors just months after its first birthday. Altogether Bird has raised $418 million since it was founded in April 2017. The company, which rents scooters out via a mobile application, has already launched in 15 cities and plans to add seven more in as many days. The company is also hiring a team in Europe for a potential scooter business there. About half of the $300 million Bird raised in recent weeks came at a $1 billion valuation, and the second half valued the startup at $2 billion, people familiar with the deal have said. 1
Upfront Ventures VC Mark Suster was asked: “Does it surprise you that the fastest-growing “unicorn” was launched in Los Angeles and not San Francisco?”
“No. Not at all. Leave aside that we’re the second largest market in the United States with the third-largest tech ecosystem and the fastest growing startup market in the country, LA is clearly a pioneer in transportation solutions and has been for the past 100 years having led the way in freeways (highways), aerospace, rocket propulsion, deep water ports and now space flights (with SpaceX) it is no wonder that Bird was started in LA. Bird is the natural evolution in billion-dollar++ outcomes in LA.
This is why so many great LA funds like Upfront, Greycroft and B Capital Global have all backed Bird. And with such a strong and experienced founder in Travis VanderZanden and great local executives like Paige Craig whom we’ve all known and worked with for the past 10 years, we are confident that this team can out execute.” 2 Bird is hiring: See Bird jobs.
Many people assume that Bird has a team that picks up scooters in the evenings and charges them but one of the beautiful early innovations was to allow people in each local market to charge the scooters themselves and be financially compensated and then they place them in pre-determined locations in the morning. 2 The scooters themselves are charged by a contract workforce. These people are known as “Bird hunters” or “chargers,” and they’re growing exponentially in number. As Birds and comparable scooter-sharing services continue to expand, charging has become a popular way for high-schoolers, college students, and young professionals to earn easy money. 3
1 Bird CEO Explains Why His Scooter Startup Needed $300 Million
2 All The Questions You Wanted Answered about Bird Scooters and Their Recent $300 Million Funding
3 Electric Scooter Charger Culture Is Out of Control
This is for educational purposes only. Digital Wealth LLC is not affiliated with Bird Rides Inc nor any of the companies above.