Almost exactly five years ago, the scooters came. That’s when Bird, the first unicorn in this once sizzling startup sector, launched its inaugural scooter-sharing service. The company, founded by former Lyft and Uber executive Travis VanderZanden, touted itself as a solution for last-mile transportation. In dense locales like campuses and downtowns, those willing could just click on an app and scoot happily to their destination. Early adopters saw scooters as a fast, fun and cost-effective way to get around. Non-adopters saw them as a quick way to end up in the ER. Motorists mostly wished they’d get off the road.
No matter what you thought of scooters, by late 2019 their ubiquitous urban presence seemed a fait accompli. By that point, VCs had poured over $2 billion into so-called micromobility upstarts globally, most of which relied wholly or partly on electric scooters.
Fast-forward a few years, and it’s apparent this bet hasn’t gone particularly well, with Bird now a penny stock, bringing broader scooter company valuations down for the ride. While scooters are still around, any expectations of solid returns from investments on the space are not.
Peak scooter
How did it happen? We’ll start with the up times. In total, well over $5 billion in venture funding went into assorted startups engaged in the renting, charging and making of scooters in roughly the past five years. For reference, we list 34 of the most heavily funded companies: