TIER and nextbike Unite to Become the Number 1 for Sustainable Micro-Mobility
- Europe’s micro-mobility leader TIER Mobility AG (TIER) acquires European bike-share leader nextbike GmbH (nextbike), extending its major commitment to bikes
- Together, TIER and nextbike serve 400 cities with 250,000 vehicles, creating the industry’s first truly multi-modal platform across bikes, e-bikes, cargo bikes, e-scooters and e-mopeds
- The united force of nextbike’s longstanding city relationships with TIER’s vehicle and tech innovation and financial backing creates the most sustainable mobility company
Europe’s leading micro-mobility operator TIER is today acquiring Europe’s top bikeshare player nextbike. The Berlin-based company TIER has purchased 100% of the shares in the Leipzig-based bike-sharing company nextbike. With the acquisition, TIER expands its large portfolio of shared, light electric vehicles with rental bikes and e-bikes, and it becomes the leading micro-mobility provider in the world across multiple two-wheeled modes. nextbike can leverage TIER’s innovative strength and financial resources, which was further bolstered by its recent Series D financing round of $200million.
The combined force of the two companies will create Europe’s largest and most diverse micro-mobility provider with more than 250,000 vehicles in over 400 cities. nextbike has been operating bike rental systems since 2004, mostly as the exclusive operator for the cities, and has established a profitable shared mobility business model in its 17 years of existence. Together with nextbike, TIER’s vision of a complete portfolio of mobility options is now becoming reality. The combination of bicycles, e-bikes, cargo bikes, e-scooters and e-mopeds in free-floating, station-based and hybrid sharing systems creates the industry’s first truly multimodal platform. This makes it much easier for users to choose between different means of transport for each route without using their own car.
Lawrence Leuschner, CEO and Co-Founder of TIER Mobility, said:The acquisition of nextbike - with its unrivalled experience and relationships across hundreds of cities - is a unique opportunity to take bikeshare to the next level, getting more people out of cars and offering the most sustainable mobility solution. I have always held a deep belief in the transformative power of bikes in cities - and it is great to see the bike market is growing rapidly. Our shared values of sustainability and respect for cities across two strong leadership teams, underpinned by TIER's financial backing and capital efficiency, present an unstoppable, joint mission to change mobility for good.
TIER will acquire the shares from the previous majority shareholder Co-Investor Partners, an equity investor focused on high-growth companies in the DACH region, and all other shareholders in an all-cash transaction. The amount of the purchase price and further financial details of the transaction will not be disclosed.
Leonhard von Harrach, CEO of nextbik, said:Since 2004, we have been providing sustainable mobility to hundreds of thousands of people every day and have established bike sharing as a component of public transport worldwide. We decided to partner with TIER because there is a significant common ground in the corporate culture. Above all, however, we are united in our mission to make cities more liveable with our mobility services and to do something about traffic congestion, pollution and noise. The fact that this is a reality today is due to, among other things, to the founders of Nextbike, who were pioneers in the European mobility sharing market and were already renting out bicycles when there were no apps.
The acquisition is the latest significant move in a successful year to date for TIER. The company has expanded its presence to 16 countries in Europe and the Middle East with market entries in Hungary, the Netherlands and Bahrain. The major investment in bikeshare follows TIER committing heavily to e-bikes in recent months, with launches in London and Stockholm part of an expansion of its e-bike service across six countries. In October, TIER announced the closing of its US$200 million Series D funding round. At a valuation of $2 billion, TIER has raised a total of $660 million in equity and debt capital so far.
nextbike also looks back on an eventful year and has further consolidated its position as bike-sharing market leader. Despite Covid, a 50% increase in usage was recorded. In total, 60 projects across 17 countries were supplied with new bikes in the last 18 months. Highlights include the modernization of KVB bike in Cologne with 3,000 new bikes, the network expansions in Budapest, Bilbao, and Gothenburg, and market entry to Italy and Montenegro. In September, the city of Vienna awarded nextbike the contract for the realisation of the new “WienMobil Rad” with over 3,000 bikes.
This article was originally published by TIER.
