E-Scooter Pioneer Bird Files for Bankruptcy After Littering Sidewalks Around the World with Its Electric Scooters

E-Scooter Pioneer Bird Files for Bankruptcy After Littering Sidewalks Around the World with Its Electric Scooters

The company said it hopes to find a buyer within the next 120 days

Published |Updated

Al Lewis

Bird’s electric scooters have drawn complaints that they litter sidewalks and pose hazards to pedestrians. MARK RALSTON/AFP via Getty Images

It turns out, dumping electric scooters in 350 cities world-wide isn’t all that profitable.

Miami-based Bird Global, which pioneered the e-scooter business in 2017, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on Wednesday, but said it would keep operating as it restructures its debt and looks for a buyer.

“We are making progress toward profitability and aim to accelerate that progress by right-sizing our capital structure through this restructuring,” Interim CEO Michael Washinushi said in a statement on Wednesday.

Five years ago, Bird was the fastest startup to reach a market valuation of $1 billion, but in September the New York Stock Exchange delisted its shares after its stock value dipped below its $15 million threshold.

The company, founded by former Uber and Lyft executive Travis VanderZanden, inspired several knock-off companies, including Lime scooters, and remains the largest e-scooter rental company in North America.

The trend it spawned has resulted in thousands of citations for improperly parked scooters, and some cities have either banned or severely restricted the vehicles. Most recently, Paris banned electric scooters in September.

Safety concerns have also mounted. The Consumer Product Safety Commission reports 233 deaths and 360,000 emergency room visits from micromobility devices between 2017 and 2022.

High operating costs and intense capital demands have also hampered Bird’s profitability.

In a September filing, Bird reported losses of $73.4 million for the first nine months of 2023, an improvement over the $322.3 million loss during the same period in 2022.

Bird said it has secured $25 million in debtor-in-possession finance to get through the bankruptcy process from lenders including a division of Apollo Global Management.

Its bankruptcy filing listed a vague range of $100 million to $500 million for both its assets and liabilities. The filing came with a 286-page list of more than 2,500 creditors, including suppliers, law firms, municipalities, universities, insurance companies, taxing authorities and lenders.

The technologies companies that support Bird’s systems are also on the list, including Amazon Web Services, Apple and data analytics company Palantir.

Bird said it has reached a “stalking horse” agreement with its lenders that sets a floor on its value. It hopes to sell its assets through a court-supervised process over the next 90-120 days. Its Canadian and European divisions are not part of the process.

Bird boasts that its riders across the U.S. Canada, Europe, the Middle East, and Australia have buzzed more than 300 million miles, offsetting 90 million pounds of auto emissions and providing cities with needed transportation alternatives.

“We remain focused on our mission to make cities more livable by using micromobility to reduce car usage, traffic, and carbon emissions,” Washinushi said.