TIER Mobility has announced today its acquisition of Ford-owned shared electric bike and scooter operator, Spin, marking TIER’s entry into North America.
Following the recent acquisition of Europe’s largest bikeshare player Nextbike, TIER is already operating in over 410 cities with a fleet of 250,000 vehicles. With the purchase of Spin and its 50,000 vehicles, TIER expands its global footprint to more than 520 cities and communities in 21 countries and its fleet to 300,000 vehicles. This makes TIER the largest multimodal micro mobility operator globally.
Spin has strong city partnerships in North America, a history of city-focused innovation like sidewalk riding detection technology and groundbreaking approaches to building successful charging infrastructure. TIER has industry-leading safety features, the highest sustainability standards, and trailblazing innovations, such as the proprietary TIER Energy Network and swappable battery technology. Overall, this acquisition brings together two international players to become the most responsible and sustainable micro mobility partner for cities in the world.
The two companies are committed to being the best possible partner for cities while building the safest, most equitable, and most sustainable mobility solution for people. Together, TIER and Spin will continue to pioneer the development of new standards and to build trust in e-scooters and e-bikes among communities and cities by enabling technology that creates a safer experience for riders, pedestrians and all other road users on both sides of the Atlantic. Investing in and modernizing the Spin fleet with 100% swappable batteries will be one of many upcoming projects to achieve environmental sustainability and efficiency in the North American micro mobility industry.
Lawrence Leuschner, CEO and co-founder of TIER Mobility, said: “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.”
Ben Bear, CEO of Spin, said: “TIER and Spin share the same foundational view of how to deliver world-class micro mobility 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 micro mobility 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.”
The purchase of Spin is the latest significant move for TIER, following the recent acquisitions of the Italian market leader Wind Mobility, and of Europe’s top bikeshare player nextbike in 2021. In October 2021, TIER announced the first close of its $200 million Series D funding round, solidifying its position as the best-funded micro mobility company in Europe. To date, TIER has raised a total of $660 million in equity and debt.
Spin recently restructured to focus 100 percent of its markets on limited or single vendor markets where cities or campus officials select partners through a competitive procurement process. Due to Spin’s partnership focus, the company has retained 100% of its permits over the last five quarters. The markets where Spin chose to continue operating were collectively EBITDA positive over the past 12 months, an approach that aligns with TIER’s focus on building both an environmentally and economically sustainable business. Spin’s team will continue in North America as a separate entity, while transferring its UK business to TIER at a later date.
The amount of the purchase price and further financial details of the transaction will not be disclosed.
