History of electric scooters
Lime and the surviving-class sharing model (2017–2026)
A standalone historical profile of Lime (legally — Neutron Holdings, Inc.): founders Brad Bao (former Tencent America GM, co-founder of Kinzon Capital) and Toby Sun (former investment director at Fosun Kinzon Capital), the launch as LimeBike in January 2017 with the first deployment at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro in June 2017 and the Seattle entry on 27 July 2017, the pivot into electric scooters via Lime-S on 12 February 2018 on adapted Segway-Ninebot ES2 units, the absorption of Uber's Jump on 7 May 2020 together with a $170 million raise at a $510 million valuation, the CEO cascade Toby Sun → Brad Bao → Wayne Ting, the first cash-flow positive quarter in Q3 2020, the first full profitable year in 2022 ($466 million in gross bookings, $15 million in Adjusted EBITDA), $600+ million in gross bookings and $94 million in EBITDA in 2023, $686.6 million in revenue and $140+ million in EBITDA in 2024, $886.7 million in revenue and a $59.3 million net loss with $103.8 million in free cash flow in 2025, the filing of an S-1 for a Nasdaq listing under the ticker LIME at a ~$2 billion valuation on 8 May 2026 — and why Lime, unlike Bird, survived the same category of dockless electric-scooter sharing.