UPDATED 20:31 EDT / JUNE 12 2019

EMERGING TECH

Bird confirms it has acquired e-scooter sharing service Scoot

Bird Rides Inc. has officially acquired e-scooter sharing startup Scoot Networks Inc., the two companies announced today.

The terms of the acquisition were not disclosed. Scoot had raised about $47 million, with its last round valuing it at $71 million. Investors in the company include Mahindra Partners, Vision Ridge Capital Partners, Black Green Capital, Krillion Ventures, Scout Ventures, SeedInvest and Maveron.

Founded in 2011, San Francisco-based Scoot pitches itself as the “fastest, most affordable and most fun way to get around the city.” The company, despite the money raised, hasn’t expanded as rapidly as others the market have, offering services only in Barcelona, Spain, and Santiago, Chile, along with its hometown San Francisco.

It’s most headline-grabbing achievement to date was being one of two companies to obtain a license from San Francisco to offer e-scooter hiring services in the city in August.

“With Bird, our mission remains the same, but the scale at which we will pursue it, and the vehicles we will offer, will be so much better for our riders and the cities we serve,” Michael Keating, Scoot’s founder and president said in a statement.

The acquisition represents a possible start of consolidation in the scooter hiring market. Uber Technologies Inc. is rumored to be in talks on a possible deal to acquire Skip (Waybots Inc.), another San Francisco-based scooter-hiring startup, and has previously been linked to possible acquisitions of Lime and Bird as well.

Photo: blachswan/Flickr

 


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