Bird has actually revealed that it will acquire Circ, a leading electric scooter rental service in Europe and the Middle East. The acquisition is the most recent indication of combination amongst e-scooter business as the mission for a rewarding company design magnifies.
As part of the offer, Bird will take on 300 of Circ’s staff members, much of whom are based in Berlin. Bird also revealed a $75 million extension to its Series D funding round, bringing the total size of the round to $350 million– though it would not reveal the amount for the transaction.
Circ isn’t Bird’s very first acquisition. The Santa Monica-based business purchased West Coast competing Scoot for a reported $25 million in early2019 The acquisition permitted Bird to return into the profitable San Francisco market, after initially getting shut out of the city in2018 Until just recently, Scoot was simply one of two scooter business certified to run in San Francisco. (The city just recently approved Uber’s Dive, Spin, and Lime, while getting rid of Skip’s authorization.)
Circ, which currently operates in 40 cities throughout 14 European countries, in addition to United Arab Emirates, recently laid off dozens of employees at its head office and regional places, pointing out a shift to focus on “efficiency and ops excellence” According to TechCrunch, around 50 individuals, or less than 10 percent of employees, lost their tasks. Bird has made cuts, too, laying off two lots staff members at its other scooter acquisition, Scoot.
Still, Bird’s announcement of an additional $75 million in financing is a sign that equity capital firms aren’t done pumping cash into e-scooter companies, despite reports of steep cash losses and widespread vandalism of the scooters. Bird lost almost $100 million throughout the very first quarter of 2019, while income shrank sharply to just about $15 million, according to The Information In the spring, the scooter startup was reportedly down to about $100 million left in cash.
Bird states it’s been able to charm investors, thanks to its renewed focus on system economics (how much income each specific scooter brings in for the company). The more trips and miles a single scooter can cover, the much better it is for scooter business that have to recoup the cost of each vehicle before they can begin making cash.
It’s been a rough winter season for the e-scooter industry. Significant operators like Lime, Uber, and Lyft have laid off workers and took out of markets as they end up being laser-focused on making their company lucrative. Even the rollout of tougher, longer-lasting scooters hasn’t reversed the flow of more cash going out than coming in.
