As Bloomberg first reported, the hit electric scooter company that first launched in Los Angeles is reportedly raising $150m in new financing.
Bird already raised $100m on a $300m valuation back in March — the same month that Bird dive-bombed their scooters all over the big ponds of San Francisco, San Jose, and Washington, D.C.
The most recent round will value the company at a chill $1Bill, soon making Bird the first unicorn in the space.
The scooter race is on, and Bird has the lead in its talons
Bird and other scooter startups, including Lime and Spin, are racing to raise cash as they blanket US city sidewalks with their respective scooter brands.
Expansion in the scooter biz is expensive and poised to be fiercely competitive (Lyft is reportedly exploring getting into the scooter biz as well).
Currently, Bird nemesis, Lime, has already raised $132m, and is reportedly looking to raise $500m more (via Axios).
But competition and funds aren’t the only hurdles
This scooter-eat-scooter competition comes as city governments rack their brains over how to handle the new scooter storm.
In San Francisco, Bird, Lime, and Spin have been notified they must remove their scooters from the streets no later than June 4, pending permit approval.
According to TechCrunch, the SF Municipal Transportation Agency will notify them when they will be able to release their scooters back into the wild.
Think of it as a temporary wing clipping.