Newsletter
The IPO frenzy is no longer just in India. It’s turning global and the latest company looking to cash in on it is Lime, the electric scooter and bicycle rental startup you’ve probably seen across cities around the world.
What’s brewing: Lime has officially filed for an IPO in the US and according to the Financial Times, the company is targeting a valuation of around $2 billion.
That’s a huge comeback story.
Back in 2020, Lime was valued at just $500 million when Uber bought a stake in the company. Before the pandemic, though, its valuation had touched $2.4 billion before Covid hit the mobility business hard.
Now, the company appears to be regaining momentum.
Officially known as Neutron Holdings, Lime was founded in 2017 and quickly became one of the biggest names in the micro-mobility space, offering short-term rentals of bright green scooters and e-bikes in cities globally.
Big names like Uber backed the company early on and that partnership still remains important today.
In fact, Lime revealed in its SEC filing that around 14.3% of its revenue comes through Uber, where users can rent Lime scooters and bikes directly from the Uber app.
The key numbers: revenue rose from $521 million in 2023 to nearly $687 million in 2024, before climbing further to $886.7 million in 2025.
On the surface, this looks exactly like the kind of high-growth company public markets love, fast-growing revenues, improving scale, and a path toward profitability.
But there’s a catch. Lime is carrying around $1 billion in current liabilities, with nearly $846 million due within the next 12 months. The company itself admitted in its IPO filing that it currently does not have enough liquidity to comfortably meet those obligations.
In simple terms: Lime needs this IPO. The company has clearly stated that if it cannot raise enough money through the public markets or restructure its debt, its ability to continue operating could come under serious pressure.
