With Another $70M In VC Funding, LimeBike Isn’t Just A Bikeshare Startup Anymore
Source: PitchBook, Kate Clark
Photo: LimeBike
LimeBike has topped off its $50 million Series B with another $70 million. The bikesharing startup was valued at $225 million last fall following the initial Series B investment, led by Coatue Management. The company has not disclosed its new valuation.
The round brings San Mateo, California-based LimeBike’s total VC raised to $132 million, more than doubling its previous total. The business is just over a year old, and it’s likely they’ll be the first US bikeshare startup to earn a spot in the unicorn club. When I last chatted with CEO and co-founder Toby Sun, he said the growth was much faster than he’d imagined it would be.
And that was before his company raised the additional $70 million and added electric bikes and scooters to its portfolio of mobility products. Sun said the new funding solidifies the startup as a smart mobility solutions provider rather than just a bikesharing company.
The company launched a fleet of e-bikes at the start of January and released scooters, called Lime-S, earlier this week.
Fifth Wall Ventures, a firm that invests in companies at the intersection of real estate and tech, closed the round, marking its first investment in LimeBike—or any bikeshare startup, for that matter. It may seem like an odd pairing, but LimeBike says it’s looking to partner with commercial real estate owners in a bid to accelerate distribution. With a set of limited partners that double as real estate titans, Fifth Wall is up for the task.
Brad Greiwe, co-founder and managing partner at Fifth Wall, said in a press release that the firm’s LPs want to help LimeBike distribute bikes across consumer real estate endpoints, such as multifamily homes, retail areas and offices, because “bringing shared bikes to the last 10 feet of the last mile at these assets will be a win for everyone involved.”
DCM Ventures, GGV Capital, Section 32, AME Cloud Ventures and The Durant Company also participated in the round, among other investors.