Not too long after Lyft announced that it was acquiring the top bike-sharing company in the United States, its biggest rival Uber has announced that its users will now be able to rent scooters from Lime. Uber is investing in the company as part of a $335 million funding round. Lime’s electric scooters will thus be available for rental through Uber’s app. Lime is going to use the funds that it’s raising to buy tens of thousands of more electric scooters for its service so that it can expand it further.
Lime won’t just be renting out its scooters through the Uber app, it’s also going to co-brand the scooters with Uber. The ride-hailing company has previously employed a similar strategy with Jump’s electric bicycles before it eventually ended up buying the company several months back. Uber has been serious about adding scooters to its service.
The company has even applied for a permit to start its own service in San Francisco and that’s something that it may pursue even though it has made an investment in a company that rents out electric scooters.
Lime’s scooters are now available in more than 70 markets across the UNited States and Europe in just 12 months given that the company began its journey in 2017.