Economics
Sequoia Said to Value Scooter Company Bird at $1 Billion
- The $150 million round will help Bird fend off competition
- CEO Travis VanderZanden was formerly a leader at Uber and Lyft
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Bird, an electric scooter-sharing startup, is raising $150 million in a funding round led by Sequoia Capital that will value the company at $1 billion, people familiar with the matter said. This is the first batch of money in this new round, and the company plans to raise more, said one of the people, who asked to remain anonymous while discussing the private transaction.
The funding comes as venture-backed startups, including Lime and Spin, race to raise money and to saturate U.S. city sidewalks with small electric scooters. The companies allow users to download an app to unlock the scooters and ride them for a small fee.