A few weeks ago, insiders leaked that Bird Rides Inc. is in the process of raising new funding at a $2.5 billion valuation. Rival scooter and bike sharing unicorn Lime may now be looking to follow suit. 

Business Insider today reported that the startup, which is incorporated as Neutron Holdings Inc., has held early-stage talks with investors about a fresh funding round. The two sources who spoke with the publication said that Lime is eyeing up an up to $500 million raise.

SoftBank Group Corp.’s Vision Fund is reportedly among the investors involved in the funding discussions. Last October, a tipster told Bloomberg that Vision Fund representatives had held talks with “all” the major players in the scooter-sharing market. At the time, the Japanese carrier was said to be mulling whether to back an upstart such as Lime or stick with its existing bets on larger players, notably Uber Technologies Inc., which also competes in this segment. 

A new funding round would likely see the participation of at least some of Lime’s earlier backers. In February, the startup closed a $310 million funding round from a group of blue-chip investors that included both Alphabet Inc. and its GV venture capital arm. Bain Capital, Andreessen Horowitz, Fidelity Ventures, IVP and nearly a dozen other investors chipped in too.

That round gave Lime a $2.4 billion valuation. Business Insider’s sources didn’t mention how much the startup might be worth after another capital injection, saying only that the final funding amount could still change because of the early stage of the investment talks.

In parallel with its fundraising efforts, Lime continues expanding into more cities. Since July, the startup has brought its scooters to Montreal, Sacramento, Milwaukee and other new markets while also finding time to roll out an integration with Google Maps. Bird is pursuing an ambitious expansion roadmap as well.

Lime has raised $765 million to date, while Bird is backed by $273 million from its investors. 

Photo: Lime