Bird CEO Explains Why His Scooter Startup Needed $300 Million

As word spread that an electric scooter rental company called Bird Rides Inc. was amassing $300 million from investors just months after its first birthday, one question has plagued onlookers in and outside Silicon Valley: Why?

Now that the Los Angeles-based startup has completed the massive financing effort, Bird founder Travis VanderZanden is ready to explain how he plans to spend all that money. Altogether Bird has raised $418 million since it was founded in April 2017. The company, which rents scooters out via a mobile application, has already launched in 15 cities and plans to add seven more in as many days. The company is also hiring a team in Europe for a potential scooter business there.