Electric bike startup Lime preps for its long-awaited IPO

Electric bike startup Lime has hired investment banks to help it prepare for a long-awaited U.S. IPO as early as 2026, sources tipped to Reuters.

The IPO could reportedly value the firm significantly higher than its ~510 million valuation in 2020, when Uber Technologies (NYSE:UBER) led a funding round. 

Lime was originally founded as LimeBike in January 2017 by Brad Bao and Toby Sun. Both founders were previously executives at Fosun International's venture capital arm. The company quickly raised $12 million in venture funding led by Andreessen Horowitz in March 2017 and launched its first bike-sharing service at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro in June 2017.

Lime rapidly expanded its presence across multiple U.S. cities and later introduced electric bikes (Lime-E) and electric scooters (Lime-S) starting in 2018. Over time, it evolved from a bike-sharing service to a broader micromobility platform, offering electric bikes and scooters in more than 280 cities across nearly 30 countries. Competitors include Bird, Spin, JUMP, Lyft (NASDAQ:LYFT), Voi, Dott, Hopr, and Nextbike.

In terms of financial backing, Lime has attracted a broad and notable group of investors throughout its funding rounds. Early investors include Andreessen Horowitz, which led the Series A round, as well as Alphabet's (GOOG) venture arm GV, Uber Technologies (NYSE:UBER), Coatue Management, Bain Capital Ventures, Fidelity Ventures, DCM Ventures, Fifth Wall Ventures, GGV Capital, Franklin Templeton Investments, AME Cloud Ventures, Stanford-StartX Fund, and even celebrity investor Kevin Durant. 

Last week, Lime extended its relationship with Uber (UBER) in a development that it said keeps Lime as the go-to micromobility option on the Uber (UBER) platform for years to come. "In renewing our agreement, we’re extending our long-standing collaboration with Uber to help make cities easier to navigate, and continuing Lime’s place as the exclusive shared dockless e-bike and e-scooter provider on Uber across the U.S., Canada, Europe, Australia and New Zealand," highlighted the company.

Working with Uber has allowed us to reach even more people and provide more riders with convenient, sustainable and fun mobility options, through one of the largest transportation platforms in the world. 

Looking ahead, Lime's IPO could be a significant test of investor confidence in the micromobility sector, which has faced challenges including regulatory hurdles and financial struggles.