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After years of hints and preparation, the Uber-backed electric bike and scooter rental startup Lime filed for an initial public offering. A micromobility company going public? In 2026? Surely it’s the wrong year.
Lime CEO Wayne Ting has been talking about an IPO for years. TechCrunch spoke to him about it in 2020, 2021, and 2023. It never materialized and I sort of forgot about it, until — boom — the S-1 doc, the registration statement filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, posted early Friday morning.
There are some interesting risk factors in the S-1, although we still are waiting for Lime to share terms of the offering.
Revenue is climbing, it has positive free cash flow, and net losses narrowed after 2023, although there has been a slight uptick between 2024 and 2025. Uber, which invested in Lime several years ago, still plays an important role for the company. Lime said about 14.3% of its revenue came through its partnership with Uber, which allows customers to find and rent scooters and e-bikes through its app.
All of this suggests Lime is a growth company headed toward profitability. But there is one substantial headwind. Lime has about $1 billion in current liabilities, and about $675.8 million of that is due by the end of 2026. In all, about $846 million is due within 12 months. Lime does not have sufficient liquidity to pay that, according to its filing. Lime states it plainly in the S-1: If it can’t go public and raise the necessary capital, or change its debt agreements, it may not be able to continue operating as a business.
Senior reporter Sean O’Kane, who likes digging through an S-1 as much as I do, spotted some other tidbits in the risk factors. Investment by cities in their public road infrastructure is a risk factor, according to the company. Lime specifically lists potholes, which made me chuckle and then nod in agreement. Potholes are not kind to shared scooters.
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