- Company — Bird Global
- Sector — Micromobility
- Founded / Died — 2017 / Chapter 11 20 December 2023
- Lifespan — ~6 years
- Capital raised — ~$776M venture equity plus SPAC proceeds; peak valuation ~$2.5B (2019); post-SPAC public market value fell more than 99%
- Peak scale — Operations in 350+ cities; reported ~$240M revenue in 2022 against heavy losses.
- What it built — Dockless electric scooter sharing, the fastest company in history to reach a $1B valuation at the time.
- Stated cause of death — The Chapter 11 filing described a need to restructure and strengthen the balance sheet. Founder Travis VanderZanden had already departed in 2022.
- Evidenced cause — Unit economics were negative for most of the company's life: early vehicles lasted weeks rather than years, vandalism and theft were structural, and nightly collection and charging consumed the revenue. A 2021 SPAC listing and a subsequent revenue restatement (Bird had recognised revenue from unearned customer wallet balances) compounded it, and municipal permits capped fleets in the densest markets.
- Warning signs visible earlier — Vehicle lifespan data was contested publicly from 2018. Deep layoffs in 2020 and 2022. The revenue restatement in late 2022 and the NYSE delisting in September 2023 preceded the filing.
- Money outcome — Public shareholders effectively wiped out; venture investors largely so. Assets acquired by a lender group. Riders lost prepaid wallet balances in several jurisdictions — a consumer harm that attracted regulatory attention. Thousands of jobs lost across global operations.
- Post-mortem quality — Poor. No founder account. The bankruptcy docket is the most reliable source.
- Transferable lesson — Asset lifespan is the hidden denominator of every sharing economy.
- Sources — CBS News · TechCrunch · Pari Passu restructuring analysis
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