Bird, the electric scooter rental company that’s worth $2 billion for some reason, is coming to Europe. The first city to be “graced” with Bird’s Scooters is Paris. Here, the company has cautiously launched with a pilot program of between 50 and 100 two-wheelers, all of which will probably be stolen by the end of next week. Have you visited TNW’s hype-free blockchain and cryptocurrency news site yet? It’s called Hard Fork. TAKE ME THERE The company also plans to launch in Tel Aviv in the coming weeks, although a date isn’t set in stone. According to Reuters, Bird is approaching its first international launch cautiously. It’s working with the local authorities in Paris and Tel Aviv, which is a stark difference from its launch in San Francisco, where the company has endlessly infuriated local officials. Bird is also limiting the area where you can grab a ride on one of its scooters. In Paris, the company’s only offering scooters in a handful of arrondissements in the city center. In Tel Aviv, rides are only available at Tel Aviv University’s campus. Bird says it plans to gather data on how the scooters are used before embarking on a wider expansion. For those dreadding the inevitable rise of motorized scooters whizzing down our streets, I’ve got some bad news for you: Bird’s raised a truly bonkers $415 million to date. It has the means — and worse, the burning ambition — to push aggressively into the European market. It’s also got… [Read full story]
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