Silicon Valley is characterized by its cascades of investment in startups that seem to outline a promising future. Special mention deserves Bird, which, amazingly, in less than two years of continuous financing has managed to become the company that faster has reached the valuation of the two thousand five hundred million dollars (about €2,200M)… and it will not stop there.
Bird: timeline of his success
With a crazy past few months, Bird has already raised more than 400 million since it was founded in April 2017. Its most recent chronology shows it:
- In just one year it was already valued at 400 million dollars after a financing of 100 million series B (financing that is usually given in companies that are beginning to be profitable and seek to expand).
- At the end of May 2018, Bird was valued at billion euros. All this thanks to a series C of 150 million dollars led by Capital Sequoia and other investors such as Accel Partners Y Tusk Ventures.
- In July 2018, he shamelessly announced an investment of $300 million of the main venture capital funds in Silicon Valley, estimating the company at two billion dollars.
- Now, Bird is about to close a new round of financing (Series D) led by Sequoia Capital, which would raise its valuation to $2.5 billion.
Why Bird?
The truth is that we are not only talking about one that has been given to promote scooters. Bird Rides is one of the many electric scooter companies that they hit hard currently in the US. The startup is based in Santa Monica in California and was founded by one of the former directors of Uber, Travis VanderZanden.
It is based on a system of shared services known as ‘ which works similar to ‘bike sharing’ and ‘car sharing’. At a modest price, users can rent through the app a scooter near their location and after using it they leave it anywhere to be used by the next user.
Although Bird can be considered a young company, it already has a fleet of around 1,000 electric scooters Y 50,000 users who have managed to accumulate more than 10 million journeys in 120 cities around the world, including Madrid.
Factors that boost companies like Bird
The startup – those young companies that achieve a valuation of $1 billion or more – are no longer exceptional in Silicon Valley, but the speed with which Bird has reached this state.
Probably one of the key factors influencing its success is that it is one of the alternatives cheaper of the market, since it is quoted between 1 and 15 cents per minutedepending on demand and rental time.
Likewise, other advantage that may be attractive to users such as ease of transportationthe emission reduction contaminants or the possibility of avoid jams of traffic. Although it carries other disadvantages with it, such as the problem of sidewalk invasion or the high probability of accidents compared to other means of transport.
Is Bird the future of transportation?
In any case, many of the investors consider that this could be the future of transport: the ‘bike sharing’ model has become a billion dollar industry in China. Many of the investors are betting that this fledgling market will grow rapidly as people who work downtown or attend college on large campuses recognize a new affordable and efficient way to move
In fact, limeBird’s most direct competition in ‘scooter sharing’, and which began its journey with ‘bike sharing’, is also doing well, raising some $132 million and on track to raise up 500 million new funds with sponsors like Andreessen-Horowitz, Fifth Wall Ventures Y GGV Capital.
Bird’s own founder, VanderZanden, believes that they are presented with a great opportunity to make a difference in the world of transport. As well as being the innovators of ‘scooter sharing’, they believe it is the right solution for people to use cars less.
In conclusion
Bird’s success is not determined by chance. Although the electric scooter business starts from a simple idea, it is executed in a perfect opportunity and integrating the right elements. Bird’s ‘scooter sharing’ is a business strategy that is taking hold among Silicon Valley investors, and it does not seem to be due to exceptional factors but rather because of its simplicityits integration with the new technologies and his sustainability environmental.
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