Electric scooter company Bird Global announced that it has filed for bankruptcy protection on Wednesday, and the City of Reno has now commented on that announcement.
"At this point, representatives from Bird have assured the City that operations will continue as usual without interruption and this process will have no impact on the City or Bird riders in Reno," said the City in a release.
Residents with concerns can contact Reno Direct online at or via phone at (775) 334-4636.
The bankruptcy filing marks an attempt to stabilize Bird's wobbly finances and is a sobering comedown for a formerly high-flying startup that was trying to make it easier to get around big cities in an environmentally friendly way with its fleet of electric scooters.
The concept attracted about $500 million in investments from prominent Silicon Valley venture capital firms such as Sequoia Capital and Accel Partners before becoming a publicly traded company in 2021.
Now, the Miami-based company finds itself struggling to survive after losing more than $430 million since the end of 2021.
Bird has lined up $25 million in financing from MidCap Financial, a division of Apollo Global Management, as it tries to reorganize under Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in Florida.
Michael Washinushi, Bird's interim CEO, predicted the company will be able to bounce back and continue its “mission to make cities more livable” by providing vehicles that don't clog the roads nor burn fuel. But investors seemed doubtful as Bird's stock lost nearly 80% of its remaining value Wednesday to close at 8 cents per share, a far cry from its price of about $154 at the end of 2021.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
