Bird (company)
| Bird Rides, Inc.
|
|
|---|---|
_logo.svg&filetimestamp=20200222101904&){kind=logo} |
|
| legal form | Corporation |
| founding | 2017 |
| Seat | Santa Monica , California |
| management | Travis VanderZanden |
| Website | www.bird.co |
Bird (dt. Vogel ) is a scooter rental company based in Santa Monica , California . It rents electric scooters in several cities in North America and Europe.
history
Bird was founded in 2017 by former Uber CEO Travis VanderZanden. In February 2018 Series A funding , the company, led by Craft Ventures, received $ 15 million . In the Series B financing in March 2018 another 100 million dollars were collected.
In September 2018, a year after its initial launch, Bird celebrated its 10 millionth ride. A month later, in October 2018, Bird released details about its new, bespoke vehicle, the Bird Zero . This is to be developed with the aim of "longer battery life for a longer range, better lighting for more visibility and improved durability for a longer service life". In November 2018, the rental company unveiled the Bird Platform , a new program based on the company's mobile app and newly developed Bird Zero vehicles that allowed independent operators to use Bird's infrastructure to run their own fleet of electric scooters operate. The Bird Cruiser was announced at the beginning of June 2019 . The cruiser can be used like a bicycle, the electric motor makes pedaling easier. But customers should also be able to drive without pedaling.
Bird announced in October 2019 that it had received $ 275 million from investors in its fourth funding round. At the end of January 2020, Bird announced the acquisition of Berlin-based competitor Circ ; As part of the acquisition, the final round of financing was increased by $ 75 million to $ 350 million.
application
Principles
The user installs the Bird app, has to register and specify a payment method (usually a credit card). The app shows all available scooters (tracked by GPS) nearby. The user then scans the QR code on the scooter and can begin the journey. At the end of the journey, the user parks the scooter (preferably on the side of the road) and then ends the journey through the app. The price is immediately debited from the user's credit card. If there are problems with the journey (e.g. a defective vehicle), the user can report them via the app.
operation area
In the Bird app, the user can see the operational area of the service. Driving outside of the operational area is tolerated, but if the scooter is then left outside of the operational area, the user will be charged a fee. The fee differs depending on the city and country in which the user drives.
Operating times
Since the scooters need to be charged every night, Bird has set operating times when the service is available: 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. daily. These operating times apply uniformly to all cities in which Bird operates.
Scooter
Bird uses the Xiaomi M365 and Ninebot ES2 electric scooters. All of these scooter models can drive up to 25 km / h and have a range of approx. 30 km. As mentioned before, Bird also has its own scooter, the Bird Zero, which has more range and better durability.
Prices
In general, in countries where the euro or dollar is used, the price is € / $ 1 to unlock the scooter and € / $ 0.15 per minute of use. The price may differ for countries with other currencies. Different cities in a country can also have different prices. Bird and other electric scooter sharing companies are often criticized for their relatively high prices, especially when compared to public transportation. However, companies point out that the scooters are not an alternative to existing transportation and that the cost of buying, charging and maintaining the scooters is high.
Charging the scooter
The scooters are charged by registered temporary workers . The company provides chargers and pays them between $ 3 and $ 20 to charge the scooters overnight. In the morning the workers have to unload the scooters at designated places. Charging becomes a competition and the temporary workers collect the scooters with vans everywhere. Given the widespread use of scooters, the company believes this type of charging system is necessary to ensure the cost-effectiveness of the rental system.
Problems
Lineup, vandalism
The company first launched its scooters in San Francisco without obtaining proper permits. After the city passed a cease and desist order in June 2018, Bird's scooters were temporarily removed from San Francisco.
The scooters have been the target of vandalism several times. The people of San Francisco battled the scooter trend by throwing the vehicles into the San Francisco Bay . Some people went so far as to smear feces on the scooters.
Park
Because Bird is an electric scooter sharing system, there is no parking space, the scooters can be parked almost anywhere. For this reason, the scooters are sometimes on the sidewalk, in parking spaces for the disabled, in front of garage entrances, etc. The public order offices and the police take action against this.
winter
Due to safety concerns, Bird will take all scooters off the market in Germany during the winter.
Web links
- Kira Welling: Practical test of the Bird E-Scooter on chip.de; August 7, 2019; accessed on September 17, 2019.
Individual evidence
- ↑ Bird | Crunchbase. Retrieved September 29, 2018 .
- ^ Bird Marks One Year Anniversary with 10 Millionth Environmentally-friendly Ride. In: Bird. September 20, 2018. Retrieved May 27, 2019 (American English).
- ↑ Bird Unveils Bird Zero: Custom-Designed e-Scooter for Ridesharing 2.0. In: Bird. October 4, 2018. Retrieved May 27, 2019 (American English).
- ^ Bird Unveil's "Bird Platform" for Independent Operators. In: Bird. November 27, 2018. Retrieved May 27, 2019 (American English).
- ↑ Sean O'Kane: Bird is launching an electric moped this summer. June 4, 2019, accessed June 4, 2019 .
- ↑ Bird is launching a two-seater electric vehicle to become more than a kick scooter startup. In: TechCrunch. Retrieved June 4, 2019 (American English).
- ↑ FAZ: BIRD AND CIRC: Fusion on the e-scooter market , January 28, 2020, accessed on the same day
- ^ Taylor Lorenz: Electric Scooter Charger Culture Is Out of Control . In: The Atlantic . May 20, 2018 ( theatlantic.com [accessed September 29, 2018]).
- ↑ How to understand the financial levers in your business . In: TechCrunch . ( techcrunch.com [accessed September 29, 2018]).
- ^ Bye-bye, SF scooters as Bird, Lime and Spin go on hiatus . In: SFChronicle.com . June 5, 2018 ( sfchronicle.com [accessed September 29, 2018]).
- ^ San Francisco Is Fighting the Scooter Trend With Poop and Vandalism . In: Motherboard . April 24, 2018 ( vice.com [accessed September 29, 2018]).
- ↑ Bird goes into hibernation .