With plans to go public via a reverse merger, Bird Rides Inc. has provided a heretofore rare peek into its financials.
The Santa Monica, California-based e-scooter startup announced in May that it is gearing up to merge with special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) Switchback II Corp. in a deal that would value Bird at $2.3 billion — down about half a billion dollars from its valuation before the coronavirus crisis, which has taken a toll on its bottom line.
According to its second-quarter financials, however, business is picking up, even as the company continues to operate at a deficit.
Bird’s net loss in Q2 was $43.7 million, an improvement from a loss of $50 million in the same time frame a year ago. And revenues improved nearly sixfold to $60 million in the three-month period ended June 30.
“Our second-quarter financial results reflect significant outperformance compared to our expectations,” said Bird founder and CEO Travis VanderZanden. “Specifically, during the second quarter we drove a 477% increase in revenue over the same period last year and a 36% outperformance relative to our expectations.”
The company also unveiled a new e-bike that consumers can buy. The Bird Bike, which retails for $2,299, is now available to order in limited quantities and is expected to be sold by U.S. retailers this fall.
The e-bike comes in two colors (“Stealth Black” and “Gravity Gray”) and two styles — a step-through V-frame and step-over A-frame.
“The future of transportation is all-electric,” VanderZanden said. “With our new e-bike, we are creating increased opportunities for people to embrace micro electric vehicles beyond the 300 cities we partner with to provide our shared services today.”
Here’s what else Los Angeles tech companies got up to this week:
Funding
- Los Angeles-based Nacelle has secured $50 million in Series B funding from Tiger Global for its headless commerce platform that separates the front and of a commerce solution from the back end.
- RepairSmith, the El Segundo startup offering a full-service mobile solution for automotive repair and maintenance in 650 cities across six states, has raised a $42 million Series B from investors including TI Capital, Mercedes-Benz, Porsche Ventures, and Spring Mountain Capital.
- FaZe Clan has received a strategic investment from Cox Enterprises, building on the L.A.-based gaming organization’s partnership with Atlanta Esports Ventures, a joint venture between Cox and Province Inc., to form Atlanta FaZe, a “Call of Duty League” franchise.
- Los Angeles-based ForeVR Games Inc. has raised $7 million in additional seed financing led by Bessemer Venture Partners, bringing the company's total raise to $8.5 million to build social games in virtual reality.
- Ferret Software Inc., a Calabasas-based “relationship intelligence” platform, has raised a $4 million seed investment from Artesian and more than 30 angel investors to provide companies and individuals with real-time, unbiased intelligence to identify risks and embrace opportunities.
- PayEngine, a Los Angeles-based white-label payments-facilitation platform for vertical SaaS companies, has raised $1.6 million in seed funding to support business growth and rollout.
Exits, acquisitions and hires
- Aspiration Partners Inc., the Marina del Rey fin-tech company that enables users to spend, save, shop and invest with sustainable impact, will go public via a reverse merger with InterPrivate III Financial Partners Inc. (NYSE: IPVF). When the deal closes, the combined company will be named Aspiration Inc. and expects to be listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the new ticker symbol “ASP.”
- Delicious Nutritious, a Los Angeles micro-market payments company that operates under the trade name of Yoke Payments, has been acquired by Cantaloupe, the Pennsylvania-based digital payments and software services company for the unattended retail market for an undisclosed price.
- Emotive, the Los Angeles-based conversational text message platform for e-commerce brands, has hired Matt Cooley as the company's new president and COO on the heels of a $50 million Series B.
