Rental scooters, especially those dropped off and left on the sidewalks in cities, have been a bit of a touch-and-go proposition over the last few years. But, a recent deal shows that they can become big business.Bird, a micromobility company, was founded in September 2017 by Travis VanderZanden. It is based in Santa Monica, California. The company quickly gained popularity, but started with just ten scooters being deployed in Santa Monica.
One of its competitors had a similar story. Spin Scooters was founded in January 2017 in San Francisco as a pedal bike-sharing company. However, it quickly pivoted to electric scooters the following year. In March 2018, Spin introduced its first scooter-sharing fleet in San Francisco, marking its entry into the micromobility market. Since then, Spin has grown rapidly and expanded its operations to over 50 cities and campuses worldwide.
The purchase price for Spin was $19 million, comprised of $10 million in upfront cash, $6 million in a vendor take-back, and $3 million as a hold-back. MidCap Financial Investment and MidCap Financial Trust, managed or advised by Apollo Capital Management, LP, provided support for this transaction. “Spin is a great financial and strategic acquisition for Bird and we expect this acquisition will enable us to achieve long term sustainable profitability. In addition to our overall market leadership in North America, the company now holds a leading market share position in key markets, more new vehicles, cutting-edge technology and a significantly stronger financial position,” said Michael Washinushi, Bird Interim CEO.
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