(Bloomberg) — Lime, the operator of a network of shared electric bikes and scooters backed by Uber Technologies Inc., plans to invest more than $55 million this year to expand its global fleet.
The San Francisco-based company will add more than 30,000 brand-new bikes in North America, Europe and Australia, also replacing old ones, CEO Wayne Ting said in an interview. Also looking to return to Greece and Mexico – markets that had exited during the pandemic, he said, and explore new lines of business such as advertising offers and a new type of vehicle for their shared fleet.
The company separately reported a 32% increase in gross bookings in 2023 from a year earlier, totaling a record $616 million. Its adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization gained more than 500%, surpassing $90 million.
Lime is expanding even as its US rivals have struggled to stay afloat. Many are looking to offload operations now that the era of low interest rates and easily accessible venture capital funding is over. Stronger two-wheeler regulations and changing transportation trends have also been detrimental to the industry.
Read more: New York City had its safest year for pedestrians (1)
At the end of last year, the scooter company Bird Global Inc. failed Another peer, Superpedestrian, is closing US operations and weighing the sale of its European business, according to TechCrunch. Lyft Inc., which bought Citi Bike in 2018, was looking for a strategic partner, or to sell its bike-share business.
Lime is, meanwhile, “at that inflection point where we can scale the business without having to make a ton more investment in R&D,” Ting said. “Our software is already done, our hardware is already developed. We don’t increase fixed costs, so profitability grows at a much faster rate. And I think we’re going to continue to see that play out for a couple of years.
Uber threw Lime a lifeline in 2020 when it was struggling with pandemic-induced shutdowns. Uber, which held a roughly 29% stake at the end of last year, led a $170 million investment round for Lime then, selling its bike-sharing business Jump operations to Lime as part of the agreement. Lime was valued at about $510 million at the time, people familiar with the terms said, asking not to be identified because the terms were private.
Today, about 60% of Lime’s business comes from outside the United States, in cities where the infrastructure is less car-centric and more bike-friendly. The company’s main bike markets include Sydney, Rome, Seattle, London, Milan and Paris – the latter banning e-scooters but extending a fleet cap of 5,000 e-bikes ahead of the Summer Olympics this year.
IPO plans
Lime is positioning itself more broadly for an initial public offering. The first launched the IPO plans in 2021 before the US public stock markets dry up. Late last year, it hired Ann Gugino, former chief financial officer of U.S. pizza chain Papa John’s International Inc., as CFO to build the internal controls needed before going public.
“We’re doing everything we can to make sure we’re ready internally, and then we’re just going to wait to see when the macro environment is right to consider an IPO,” Ting said. “A lot of it is out of our control.”
© 2024 Bloomberg LP
