Electric Scooter Company Bird Global Files For Bankruptcy

(RTTNews) - Electric scooter company Bird Global, Inc. (BRDS), Wednesday announced that it has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.

The company said that it has entered into a financial restructuring process aimed at "strengthening its balance sheet and better positioning the company for long-term, sustainable growth."

Bird will operate as usual during this process, maintaining the same service for its riders and upholding its commitments to partner cities, fleet managers, and employees.

"This announcement represents a significant milestone in Bird's transformation, which began with the appointment of new leadership early this year," said Bird Interim CEO Michael Washinushi. "We are making progress toward profitability and aim to accelerate that progress by right-sizing our capital structure through this restructuring. We remain focused on our mission to make cities more livable by using micromobility to reduce car usage, traffic, and carbon emissions."

During and after the restructuring process, Washinushi will continue as Interim CEO, supported by Board Chair John Bitove, President Stewart Lyons, and CFO Joseph Prodan. Last week, Harvey L. Tepner joined the Board of Directors as an Independent Director, and Philip Evershed resigned from the Board of Directors.

Bird was founded in September 2017 by Travis VanderZanden, formerly an executive at Lyft and Uber. It had its Series A round of funding in February 2018, raising $15 million led by Craft Ventures; this was followed by a Series B round in March for $100 million, led by Index Ventures and Valor Equity Partners, and a venture round in May for $150 million from Sequoia Capital, becoming the fastest company to ever reach the $1 billion "unicorn" valuation.

In June 2018, Bird raised an additional $300 million, valuing the company at $2 billion. The company went public in late 2021 via a SPAC merger.