Uber and Alphabet are investing in start-up Lime as competition in the bike and scooter hiring industry hots up.
Lime raised $335m (£232m) in a round of funding led by GV, formerly Google Ventures. Other new investors include Google’s parent Alphabet, IVP, Atomico and Fidelity, the company said in a blog post.
“In addition, Uber is joining the current round, making a sizable investment,” Lime co-founders Toby Sun and Brad Bao said.
“Uber will work with us as a strategic partner in the electric scooter space to offer people a greater variety of transportation modes at their fingertips and make it increasingly easy to live without a car.”
Ride-hailing firm Uber will offer its users the ability to hire Lime’s scooters from its app.
Lime, like its rival Bird, specialise in providing “micro-mobility” transport for the first and last mile for commutes.
Uber bought Jump Bikes, which hires electric bikes, for $100m (£75m) in April. It plans to roll out the bike hiring service around the world.
Lime, which has raised $467m since it was founded 18 months ago, is valued at $1.1 billion.
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It allows customers to hire scooters and leave them for other users once they have finished with them. The service is available in 70 cities around the world.
Lime’s service is not available in the UK as e-scooters, like hoverboards and Segways, are banned from roads and pavements.
Source: Sky