Electric scooter operators Bird Rides Inc. acquired Circ, an e-scooter firm based in Berlin, as a bid to expand its European operations.
Bird also announced Jan. 27 it raised a $75 million extension to its Series D round. Part of this funding was used to acquire Circ, a Bird spokesperson confirmed.
Bird already operates in 21 cities across Europe, including several in Germany, and operates an office in Amsterdam. The Circ acquisition expands its foothold in the region, adding roughly 300 staff members to the European team which will operate out of Circ’s existing offices.
“To further advance our mission, we’re excited to acquire Circ which is the clear European leader” in micro-mobility, Bird Chief Executive VanderZanden said in a statement. “We like their laser focus on treating cities as their number one customer, and their mindset of prioritizing profitability over growth.”
Circ is the second micro-mobility company Bird has acquired; in June 2019 it bought San Francisco-based Scoot Networks Inc. for an undisclosed sum.
Santa Monica-based Bird announced its Series D raise in August 2019, and the round originally totaled $275 million. The company now confirms its Series D closing price is $350 million.
Bird would not name which investors newly joined the round.
The company said the Series D remained open after the initial announcement “due to investor demand,” which VanderZanden said was driven partly by Bird’s “clear path to profitability.”
“More than 12 months ago we shifted our focus from growth to profitability which put us in a position to deliver the strongest unit economics,” VanderZanden stated.
Including the revised Series D, Bird has raised roughly $775 million since it left the nest in 2017.
Tech reporter Samson Amore can be reached at [email protected] or (323) 556-8335. Follow him on Twitter @samsonamore.
