Company touting durability of Bird Two
By Sam Catanzaro
There is a shiny new bird in town.
Bird this week rolled out Bird Two, the newest device that will be part of the company’s global fleet of shared e-vehicles.
“Bird Two is the embodiment of Bird’s commitment to the safety of our riders and those around them, our partnership with cities, and our focus on building a sustainable long-term business that reduces the number of cars on the road,” said Travis VanderZanden, founder and CEO of Bird. “With the industry’s longest lasting battery and self-reporting damage sensors, anti-tipping kickstand, anti-theft encryption, puncture-proof tires, absence of exposed screws, Bird Two is the next generation e-scooter specifically built to exceed the needs and demands of riders and cities alike while delivering a significant positive bottom-line impact.”
Last fall, Bird introduced what they touted as “the world’s first ruggedized e-scooter”, Bird Zero. Less than a year later, the company is unveiling Bird Two, an e-scooter that they hope will provide advancements from a city, rider, and hardware experience. According to Bird, Bird two has been in development since the company’s founding and has a variety of designs and features that set it apart from previous e-scooters and that address servicing and maintaining the vehicle.
Bird completely re-engineered the battery for its latest vehicle which they claim is automotive-grade and has over 50 percent more capacity than Bird One’s battery. In addition, Bird Two features self-reporting damage sensors. With these sensors, Bird mechanics can more easily address aspects of the vehicle that need repair and attention. Other new features touted by the company in a press release include seamless screws,anti-theft encryption and puncture-proof tires.
The roll-out of Bird Two comes as the company looks to raise $200-300 million in venture capital by the end of summer. As part of the pitch to investors, Bird is touting the durability of their new devices as a way the company hopes to cut down on operating costs.
As reported by The Information, Bird lost nearly $100 million in the first quarter of 2019 while revenue declined by over 62 percent from the previous quarter. In addition, in the spring the company said they were down to around $100 million in cash despite raising over $700 million over nearly two years. In response to this loss of revenue, the company laid off five percent of its employees and paused service in 44 of its North American markets.
