US-based urban mobility service Lime has raised $523m in convertible debt and term loan financing from investors including ride hailing service Uber.
Uber, investment and financial services group Fidelity, Abu Dhabi Growth Fund and Highbridge Capital Management provided $418m in convertible debt while UBS O’Connor supplied a $105m term loan, according to TechCrunch.
Founded in 2017, Lime provides electric scooter and bicycle rental services in 120 cities worldwide. It will use the capital to boost its growth and expand into more cities globally, while about $20m of the funding will be deployed to pursue innovations that will further decarbonise its supply chain.
Wayne Ting, chief executive of Lime, said: “This investment secures our path to take Lime public in 2022 and will allow us to double down on our newest generation of e-bikes and e-scooters, as well as additional modes, to ensure people have reliable access to affordable, shared, carbon-free transportation.”
The company had received $170m in a May 2020 funding round led Uber with backing from internet and technology conglomerate Alphabet’s GV subsidiary, Bain Capital Ventures and unnamed new and existing backers.
GV co-led Lime’s $310m series D round in early 2019 with Fidelity, Andreessen Horowitz, IVP and Bain Capital Ventures. That round also featured Alphabet itself in addition to GIC, Coatue Management, FJ Labs, DCM Ventures, Fifth Wall, GGV Capital, GSV Capital, Bling Capital, GR Capital and St Augustine Partners.
The company had previously secured $335m in a June 2018 series C led by GV and backed by Uber, Fidelity, IVP, Andreessen Horowitz, GIC, Coatue Management, Atomico and Fifth Wall Ventures.
Stanford-StartX Fund, the investment vehicle linked to Stanford University, backed Lime in a $120m round four months earlier alongside NGP Capital, Andreessen Horowitz, GGV, Coatue Management, DCM Ventures, AME Cloud Ventures, Franklin Templeton Investments, Section 32, Durant Company, Decent Capital and Rainbow Technology.
Lime had already collected $12m in a 2017 series A round led by Andreessen Horowitz and backed by DCM Ventures, Seven Seas, IDG Capital, Immersion Ventures, Danhua Capital, Jason Zeng and Free Wu.