Uber Eyes E-Scooter Start-Ups Bird and Lime to Expand its Urban Mobility Options
*By Carlo Versano*
Uber is sniffing around a possible acquisition of either Lime or Bird, the leaders in the growing e-scooter rental market, according to a [report](https://www.theinformation.com/articles/uber-exploring-deal-to-buy-bird-or-lime) in The Information. One of the reporters who broke that story told Cheddar on Monday that there is a "growing realization" among ridehailing companies that bike and scooters will continue to be a significant part of the urban mobility landscape.
Uber's ultimate target is "going to come down to price," said The Information's Cory Weinberg.
Both Uber and rival Lyft bought their own bikeshare operators this year ー Uber acquired Jump and Lyft now owns the Citibike-parent Motivate, making it the largest bikeshare in the country.
As for scooters, Uber already has a minority stake in Lime and started renting scooters through its app this summer.
Lyft has also started rolling out scooter rentals in cities including Denver and Washington, D.C, and is expected to expand Lyft-branded scooters under the Motivate umbrella.
Uber is also familiar with the operations and executive teams of both Bird and Lime, according to Weinberg. "They certainly know both of these companies really well." In fact, Bird is even run by a former Uber and Lyft executive, Travis VanderZanden.
Uber's desire to acquire a scooter start-up may also point to a reality of business for the ridehailing company: its U.S. growth has begun to slow, and the scooter space is growing rapidly.
One thing all these transportation companies have in common: they are burning through cash as they build out infrastructure and operations. If Bird or Lime is open to an acquisition, it would raise questions about whether they have hit speed bumps in their financing efforts, Weinberg said. For now, Bird's CEO has said the company is not for sale.
For the consumer, the endgame seems increasingly likely to be a "bundled services" model, Weinberg said, where Uber and Lyft have "multi-modal" apps, in which users can book a car, a bike, or a scooter, all from the same interface ー and maybe even get rewarded for using certain options. Customers getting a credit on a Lyft ride for regularly using a Citibike doesn't seem hard to imagine as the mobility wars evolve.
"Whatever Uber has, Lyft will try to match," said Weinberg. "Which will all be good for consumers."
For full interview [click here](https://cheddar.com/videos/uber-looks-to-acquire-bird-or-lime).
Phyllis Newhouse, the first black woman to bring a company public via SPAC on the NYSE earlier this year, has launched her second SPAC, ShoulderUp Technology Acquisition.
Phyllis is a serial entrepreneur, retired military officer, and founder of the ShoulderUp movement, which educates and encourages women around the world to reach their greatest economic, political and cultural potential. Shawn Henry is part of the ShoulderUp team, bringing his expertise on cybersecurity to the new company. Both Phyllis and Shawn joined Cheddar to discuss this new venture and how it plans to tackle the issue of cybercrime.
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Jack Constantine, chief digital officer and product inventor at Lush, joined Cheddar to talk about the cosmetic company's mass exodus from major social media platforms TikTok, Facebook, Instagram, and Snapchat, in the wake of recent reports that Instagram specifically had negative impacts on teen girls. He noted that with teenage girls being a large part of its consumer base and audience, Lush had a responsibility to market its company on outlets that prioritize mental wellbeing. "For us, we've always been a social brand, and it started to feel that social media was no longer offering what we felt we wanted to gain from it," he said. "And then obviously when you add that to the damage that it's causing, it just feels like a combination that we can't continue on with." The company also pulled out of social media platforms in 2019.
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Jack Dorsey resigned from his post as CEO of the social media company on Monday and will be replaced by chief technology officer Parag Agrawal. Mitch Rubin, portfolio manager at RiverPark Long/Short Opportunity Fund, joined Cheddar to break down the move and what it means for investors in both Twitter and Square, the payment company that Dorsey also helms. "For the long-term, I think this is very positive news for both companies," he said. Rubin also talked about growing competition in the social media space and why Twitter continues to lag behind other major players.
