Bird, a last-mile electric vehicle sharing company, today announced it has raised $15 million in its Series A funding round. Led by Craft Ventures, the new fund launched by David Sacks and Bill Lee, the investment will drive the continued expansion of Bird's first-in-the-world fleet of environmentally friendly, shared electric scooters. The investment comes as Bird experiences rapid ridership growth in its current cities and enters new markets across the United States. Tusk Ventures, Valor, Lead Edge Capital, and Goldcrest Capital also invested in the round.

"This is an enthusiastic vote of confidence in our company that reflects the passion we've seen from riders in each of the cities that Bird has debuted in," said Travis VanderZanden, founder and CEO of Bird. "More riders are taking flight on Birds each day - on their way to work, lunch, the bus stop, or campus - because it is a safe, low-cost transportation solution for short trips around town. We look forward to bringing our Birds to new communities across the country."

Bird provides a convenient, low-cost transportation option for people looking to take a short journey across town or down the "last-mile" from the subway or bus to their destination. Through the smartphone app, riders can access Birds, locate the most convenient one, and ride directly to their desired destination.

Since launching in September 2017 in Santa Monica, riders have logged more than 250,000 Bird rides, with more than half of those occurring in the previous month alone.

"Bird is solving the last mile of sustainable transport," said David Sacks, co-founder of Craft Ventures and member of Bird's board of directors. "It's convenient, it's green, it alleviates traffic and makes cities more livable. This product has the potential to transform urban areas."

Bird's founder, Travis VanderZanden, developed an early passion for transportation riding along with his mother, a public bus driver in Appleton, Wis. He then went on to be a pioneer in car ridesharing, serving as the first COO of Lyft and as VP of driver growth for Uber.

Bird's senior leadership also has deep experience across the transportation and technology industries, including: Justin Balthrop, CTO, previously at Geni; Stephen Schnell, VP of operations, previously at Lyft; Sean Sires, VP of corporate development, previously at Uber; Ryan Fujiu, head of growth, previously at Lyft; Ryan Hupfer, head of launch, previously at Lyft; and Scott Rushforth, VP of engineering, previously at Activity Club. In addition to David Sacks, Justin Kan the co-founder of Twitch, and Dan Friedland, partner at Goldcrest Capital, have also joined the company's board of directors.

Birds are currently available in Santa Monica and Venice, Calif. as well as select neighborhoods in San Diego and Los Angeles. The company is rapidly expanding, and riders interested in learning when it will be available in their market can download and sign up at www.birdapp.com.

About Bird

Bird is a last-mile electric vehicle sharing company dedicated to bringing safe, low-cost, environmentally friendly transportation solutions to communities across the world. It provides a fleet of electric, shared scooters that can be accessed via smartphone. Birds give people looking to take a short journey across town or down that "last-mile" from the subway or bus to their destination a way to do so that does not pollute the air or add to traffic. Bird works closely with the cities in which it operates so that Bird is a safe, reliable, and affordable transportation option for people who live and work there. Founded in 2017 by transportation pioneer Travis VanderZanden, Bird is headquartered in Santa Monica, Calif., and is rapidly expanding across the country and the world.