TechCrunch: Lime raises $310 million Series D round led by Bain Capital Ventures and others

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LimeNews:

"Micromobility is a rapidly growing market that is here to stay, with millions of riders using e-bikes and scooters to commute. This new mode of transport is becoming a part of daily routines and Lime is leading this space. Our ridership grew faster in our first 18 months than the ride-hail industry did in its first two years.

We are thrilled to announce today that we have closed $310 million in a Series D financing, valuing Lime at $2.4 billion. A group of returning backers and new investors, Andreessen Horowitz, Bain Capital Ventures, Fidelity Investments, GV and IVP, led the round. Existing investors Alphabet, Coatue, DCM, Fifth Wall, GGV Capital, Singapore’s GIC and others continued with their support and joined the round along with several new investors including GSV Capital, FJ Labs, Bling Capital, Europe’s GR Capital and St. Augustine Partners.

This new investment demonstrates the fundamental strength of our business and the increasingly rapid adoption of Lime. The new funds will give us the ability to expand into new markets, enhance our technology, strengthen the team and pilot new opportunities. We will also continue investing in two critical areas: rider safety and city collaboration.

34 million trips and 10 million sign-ups across 5 Continents

Lime has rapidly become the favorite first and last mile solution for riders for their work commute, social event or to get around their communities. More than 10 million sign-ups and over 34 million trips have been taken on a Lime vehicle, a 5.5x increase in trips in the last seven months alone. Lime has operations in over a hundred cities, towns, company campuses, universities and communities throughout 15 countries across five continents.

Our user base reflects the move to Lime becoming a part of people’s daily routine. Riders across a range of ages, geographies, ethnicities and socio-economic backgrounds are using Lime every day. The median age of our riders is 32 with more than 20 percent of our riders over 40, and 33 percent of our riders identify as belonging to a minority race or ethnic group.

Of our riders, 34 percent report an annual income of less than $50,000, making Lime the choice for easy and affordable accessibility. Lime is now the most popular app for scooter sharing globally. We were the #1 app overall in New Zealand and the #1 travel app in the Czech Republic, Austria, Poland, France, Portugal, Greece and Spain. Also, our integration with Google Maps gives Lime riders in over 20 global cities an easy commute option.

Rider Safety + City Collaboration

Over the past few months, Lime has led safety initiatives around the world. From safety education campaigns to hundreds of thousands of free helmets to leading the industry in liability insurance and scooter innovation – every member of the Lime team is committed to getting it right on safety.

Yet for safety to be built into micromobility from the street up, we cannot do it alone. It’s only through new and existing partnerships with local governments that we are helping communities to elevate micromobility in public policy development. Partnerships like our transit data sharing for bike lane planning in Austin and Kansas City, or our membership on the St. Louis Scooter Safety Task Force.

Micromobility is growing at a faster rate than we have ever seen, but the industry is still in its early days. As we move into this next phase of growth and adoption, Lime is committed to leading the way in collaborating with policymakers, the industry and local communities.

I want to thank our investors, the entire Lime team and most of all, our riders for getting us to where we are today.

Ride on!"

Toby Sun
CEO and Co-Founder

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Read the Lime founder story: The next big thing? Lime’s rapid rise in micro mobility