TIER Mobility, a Berlin-based shared micro-mobility provider, announced that it has acquired Ford-owned shared electric bike and scooter operator, Spin, marking its entry into North America.
However, the amount of the purchase price and further financial details of the transaction were not disclosed.
The announcement comes after the recent acquisitions of the Italian market leader Wind Mobility, and of Europe’s top bike-share player nextbike in 2021.
Why this acquisition?
With the Spin acquisition and its 50,000 vehicles, the German company expands its global footprint to more than 520 cities and communities in 21 countries and its fleet to 300,000 vehicles.
This also helps TIER expand and cement its position in North America as Spin has strong city partnerships.
According to TIER Mobility, the company plans to invest and modernise the Spin fleet with 100% swappable batteries in the upcoming month to achieve environmental sustainability and efficiency in the North American micromobility industry.
Spin’s team will continue in North America as a separate entity while transferring its UK business to TIER at a later date.
Ben Bear, CEO of Spin, says “TIER and Spin share the same foundational view of how to deliver world-class micromobility services to cities and riders. Both companies believe in a partnership-first approach, operating with employees rather than contractors, and helping get people out of cars by offering sustainable, equitable, and safe micromobility services. We couldn’t be more excited to continue scaling the Spin movement in North America as part of the TIER family. Together we will be the number one choice of cities and riders globally.”
Spin: Stationless electric scooter
Based out of San Francisco, Spin is a stationless electric scooter company that provides dockless mobility systems.
In July 2017, the company launched the first stationless bicycle fleet in America and quickly expanded to dozens of other markets, including campuses such as UCSD.
Its team is based across San Francisco, Miami, Austin, Seattle, and DC and includes members with experience from Lyft, Uber, Yik Yak, Samsung, Fitbit, and other leading technology companies.
Recently, the company restructured to focus 100% of its markets on limited or single-vendor markets where cities or campus officials select partners through a competitive procurement process.
Franck Louis-Victor, Vice President, New Businesses at Ford Motor Company says, “We are proud Spin has become a trusted micromobility partner for cities across North America and the United Kingdom. We believe there are incredible synergies between Spin and TIER, and this new era will provide scale that’s desperately needed in the competitive micro-mobility sector. We are pleased to remain in the mix as a strategic investor in TIER and look forward to their continued growth.”
TIER: Climate-neutral since 2020
Founded in 2018 by Lawrence Leuschner, Matthias Laug, and Julian Blessin, TIER Mobility provides people with a range of shared, light electric vehicles, from e-scooters to e-bikes and e-mopeds, powered by a proprietary Energy Network.
TIER currently operates in 180+ cities across 19 countries in Europe and the Middle East.
In October 2021, TIER announced the first close of its $200M Series D funding round at a valuation of $2B. To date, TIER has raised a total of $660M in equity and debt.
TIER’s investors include SoftBank Vision Fund 2, Mubadala Capital, Northzone, Goodwater Capital, and White Star Capital.
Lawrence Leuschner, CEO and co-founder of TIER Mobility, says, “TIER’s acquisition of Spin and our entry into the North American market are huge milestones in our mission to Change Mobility for Good. We are excited to support citizens in cities and communities across North America to make the switch from cars to more sustainable urban mobility solutions – a switch that is urgently needed to decarbonize towns and cities across the world. We look forward to delivering this together with Spin who share our values of responsible partnership and sustainable vision.”
