Lime raises $167M in IPO after years of teasing a public debut

The long-awaited IPO pegs Lime's valuation astatine astir $1.66 billion, conscionable shy of the terms chap micromobility institution Bird got erstwhile it merged with a peculiar intent acquisition institution successful 2021.

Lime needs the funds. In its IPO filing successful May, the institution expressed "substantial doubt" that it could proceed arsenic a going concern. Lime said it needs the IPO proceeds to wage astir $1 cardinal successful liabilities, much than fractional of which is owed by the extremity of this year. Without an IPO, Lime told prospective investors, it would request to find different sources of financing.

Lime is riding that fiscal borderline due to the fact that the micromobility manufacture has proven to beryllium reasonably brutal implicit the past fewer years, adjacent successful the bully times. Bird had to record for bankruptcy extortion and restructure aft it went public, and different competitors person either merged (Tier and Dott), been delisted from large exchanges (Micromobility.com) oregon gone retired of concern wholly (Superpedestrian).

Amid the chaos, Lime has managed to amended its gross implicit the past fewer years. It generated $521 cardinal successful 2023, $686.6 cardinal successful 2024, and $886.7 cardinal past year. The institution besides trimmed its losses from $122.3 cardinal successful 2023, to conscionable $33.9 cardinal successful 2024, though that fig edged backmost up successful 2025 to $59.3 million.

That maturation has travel mostly from Lime's quality to standard globally. It present operates successful 230 cities crossed 29 countries. But the institution is besides somewhat babelike connected Uber, which owns 24% of Lime, and accounted for much than 14% of its gross past year. (Uber allows radical to publication Lime rides done its app successful immoderate cities.)