Positive unit economics is the new goal line
Emailed on January 31st 2020 in The Friday Forward
Keeping with the theme of profitability over user growth, electric scooter company, Bird, is making moves of its own.
Three months ago, Bird announced $275 million in Series D funding led by CDPQ and Sequoia Capital. Now, it’s adding another $75 million, bringing the size of the round to $350 million. It also acquired a rival called Circ, a Berlin-based scooter rental startup that had reportedly been struggling since late last year.
A representative for Bird told Term Sheet that the company is “still working through” what the expansion plans entail, but it will use its fresh funding to “continue on its path to profitability and ongoing vehicle research and development.”
“Investors today are looking for financially disciplined companies with a clear path to profitability,” said Bird CEO Travis VanderZanden in a news release. “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 and longest-lasting custom-designed vehicles of any micro-mobility company today.”
When asked why Bird has decided to shift its focus from growth to profitability, a Bird representative pointed Term Sheet's Polina Marinova to this quote from VanderZanden: “Gone are the days when top line growth was the leading KPI for emerging companies. Positive unit economics is the new goal line.”