Bird CEO Travis VanderZanden. Photo credit: TechCrunch, licensed under CC BY 2.0

Bird, the popular shared e-scooter startup, is targeting to go public via the way of a reverse merger with a blank-check firm and has hired investment bank Credit Suisse to arrange for such a deal, according to a report [paywalled] from Bloomberg that cites “people with knowledge of the matter”. According to Bloomberg, Bird has already received inbound merger interest from several blank-check firms.

Bird is one of the most funded transportation startups, with over $600 million in outside financing raised since its inception. In its heyday, Bird was a high-flying e-mobility startup backed by hundreds of millions of dollars from some of the biggest venture capital firms, but as of late has struggled with profitability, especially during a coronavirus pandemic that dwindled the type of daily movements where Bird makes most of its money from.

Bird may be looking towards a reverse merger as a way to tap more funding to sustain its operations. Such a merger would see the company become publicly-traded by combining with an already-public blank-check firm, just like many companies have done this year. This year overall has been a record for the debut of blank-check firms, with over $60 billion collectively raised by such firms so far.

This year has seen a handful of technology companies formalize big blank-check merger deals similar to the one Bird is said to be considering. Such companies include Aeva, the lidar maker; Billtrust, the payments company; Clover Health, a health insurance startup; Hims, the telehealth startup; and AppHarvest, an indoor farming startup that has entrepreneur Martha Stewart as a board member.

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