E-scooter rental pioneer Bird has warned it faces possible bankruptcy within the next 12 months unless it can raise more cash, in a sign of a dramatic change in fortunes for one of the hottest tech sectors of recent years.
Bird became the fastest start-up to reach a $1bn “unicorn” valuation in 2018, but is now fighting for survival after warning investors it had overstated its historical revenues by tens of millions of dollars.
On Monday evening, Bird said there was “substantial doubt about the company’s ability to continue as a going concern”, even after shuttering operations in dozens of cities, overhauling its management team and renegotiating its debt payments in an effort to slash costs.