SoftBank-backed scooter operator Tier secures $60m financing from Goldman Sachs

Tier, a Berlin based micro-mobility provider, secured $60 million of asset-backed financing from Goldman Sachs to fuel its expansion in the Middle East and Europe.

The debt facility follows a $250m Series C funding round led by SoftBank’s Vision Fund 2 in November, the company said in a statement on Sunday.

“The size of this highly scalable asset-backed debt facility is a game-changing first in micro-mobility, accelerating our expansion and cementing our market leadership in Europe and the Middle East,” Alex Gayer, chief financial officer at Tier, said. “This facility leverages our recent equity raise and will enhance our capital-efficient growth.”

The global electric scooters market size is expected to reach about $42 billion by 2030 at a 7.7 per cent compounded annual growth rate over the forecast period, according to a study conducted by Grand View Research. In India, the world's second most populous country, e-scooters could account for as much as 35 per cent of the country's two-wheeler market by 2030, according to the consultancy KPMG.

Demand for e-scooters in cities has helped the industry's biggest players, such as Bird and Lime, achieve multi-billion-dollar valuations in less than two years.

Founded in 2018 by Lawrence Leuschner, Matthias Laug and Julian Blessin, Tier Mobility is a shared micro-mobility provider offering people a range of shared, light electric vehicles, from e-scooters to e-bikes and e-mopeds, powered by a proprietary energy network.

The company is also planning to install new battery charging stations in retail stores across Europe and the Middle East to power electric vehicles and increase mobility with the new funding.

“Even amid a global pandemic, Tier has established a proven track record of profitable unit economics and asset longevity,” Ben Payne, managing director at Goldman Sachs, said.

Tier has rapidly expanded its operational footprint across multiple cities in the GCC starting with Abu Dhabi in 2019, before adding Dubai and Doha. Additional cities are planned by end of this year.

Apart from SoftBank, other investors in the company include Abu Dhabi’s Mubadala Capital, London-based Northzone, Goodwater Capital from California and investment firm White Star Capital from New York.

The company currently operates in more than 100 cities across 12 countries in Europe and the Middle East.