Scooter companies are huge: Bird, which has 1k+ employees, has raised more than $418m valued at $2.5B; Lime, which has 1.2k+ employees, has raised more than $765m valued at $2.4B.
But no amount of venture capital could have prepared the scooter industry for its biggest challenge yet: 2 guys named John and Dan.
It’s a tale of David vs. Scoot-liath
ScootScoop, a company that impounds dockless scooters for property owners in San Diego, was founded by 2 guys named John Heinkel and Dan Borelli, The Verge reports.
ScootScoop has no employees or outside funding but, together, its 2 founders are a micro-mobility menace: John has a background in repossessing property, and Dan has something even more valuable: a flatbed truck.
Together, the Bird-bashing, Lime-squeezing vigilantes round up offending scooters 12 hours a day, 7 days a week.
But Bird won’t abandon its flock without a fight
Both Bird and Lime have sued ScootScoop for improperly impounding their scooters.
The 2 multibillion-dollar scooter giants — both infamous for brazenly breaking laws in cities across the country — are begging a local judge to protect them from 2 grumpy guys with a truck.
“The people of San Diego are being bamboozled by a local tow company scheme,” Bird told The Verge.
Depositions in the case are set to start at month’s end. In the meantime, John and Dan — who recently impounded their 10,360th scooter — have no plans to slow down.