Lime Raises $174 Million in Nasdaq IPO at $1.6 Billion Valuation
- Lime priced its IPO at $25 per share — the midpoint of its $24-$26 range — selling 6.68 million shares and raising approximately $174 million [1]
- Shares opened at $27 on the Nasdaq, an 8% premium to the offering price, giving the company a market capitalization of roughly $1.7 billion [2]
- The company disclosed going-concern language in its filing, with $845.8 million in debt due within 12 months against just $261.3 million in cash [3]
- Uber holds approximately 22% of Lime post-IPO and indicated interest in purchasing up to $20 million in shares [3]
- Lime generated $886.7 million in 2025 revenue — up 29% year-over-year — but posted a $59.3 million net loss [4]
Lime, the electric scooter and bike-share company formally known as Neutron Holdings, began trading on the Nasdaq on Wednesday after pricing its initial public offering at $25 per share, raising approximately $174 million in a deal led by Goldman Sachs and J.P. Morgan [1]. Shares opened at $27, an 8% jump above the offering price, putting the nine-year-old company's market capitalization at roughly $1.7 billion [2].
The IPO marks a long-awaited milestone for a company that first explored going public in 2021 and was valued at just $510 million during a 2020 funding round led by Uber [4]. But the debut comes with significant financial risk: Lime disclosed going-concern language in its prospectus, noting $845.8 million in debt obligations due within 12 months against $261.3 million in cash on hand as of March 31, 2026 [3].
Lime said it plans to direct approximately $115 million of the net proceeds toward repaying its senior secured term loan, with the remainder earmarked for general corporate purposes [3]. The company operates in roughly 230 cities across 29 countries and served approximately 19 million riders in 2025 [3].
The Offering
Lime sold 6,679,791 primary shares at $25 each, landing at the midpoint of its $24-to-$26 indicated range. An additional 276,731 shares were sold by existing holders, including CEO Wayne Ting, President Joseph Kraus, and co-founder Brad Bao [3][4]. The underwriters — Goldman Sachs, J.P. Morgan, and Jefferies — hold a 30-day greenshoe option on up to 1,043,478 additional shares, which would bring total gross proceeds to roughly $200 million if fully exercised [3].
The $25 pricing gave Lime a post-offering valuation of approximately $1.66 billion on roughly 65 million shares outstanding [1]. That figure represented a steep recovery from the $510 million valuation Lime carried in its 2020 funding round, though it remained far below the loftier private-market valuations that micromobility companies commanded before the pandemic [4].
The Balance Sheet Problem
The IPO was driven less by growth ambition than by financial necessity. Lime's S-1 filing included going-concern language, stating the company 'does not currently have sufficient liquidity to repay those lenders' without completing the offering and refinancing its debt [3].
As of March 31, 2026, Lime reported $845.8 million in debt obligations due within 12 months and just $261.3 million in cash. Free cash flow, which was positive for full-year 2025, turned negative $79.2 million in the first quarter of 2026 [3]. The company earmarked $115 million of IPO proceeds for paying down its senior secured term loan [3].
Financial Performance
Lime's top-line growth has been strong. Revenue climbed 29% to $886.7 million in 2025 from $686.6 million the prior year, following $521 million in 2023 [4]. Adjusted EBITDA reached $218.1 million in 2025, and adjusted gross profit exceeded $400 million [3][4].
But the company has not turned a GAAP profit. Net losses narrowed to $33.9 million in 2024 before widening again to $59.3 million in 2025 [4]. The fleet-heavy business model — Lime owns and maintains tens of thousands of scooters and e-bikes — demands sustained capital expenditure and exposes the company to weather seasonality and regulatory risk from city permitting authorities [3].
Uber's Role
Uber Technologies is Lime's largest shareholder, holding approximately 22% of outstanding shares post-IPO [4]. The ride-hailing giant acquired Jump, an electric-bike business, and invested in Lime during a 2020 deal that valued the company at $510 million [3].
Lime rides are bookable through the Uber app in select cities, and Uber accounted for more than 14% of Lime's 2025 revenue [4]. Uber also submitted a non-binding indication of interest to purchase up to $20 million in shares through the offering [3]. The deep integration creates a strategic dependency that Lime flagged as a risk factor in its prospectus [3].
What's Next
Lime is one of the last major micromobility startups standing. Bird, once its most prominent rival, filed for bankruptcy in late 2023 [2]. The successful — if modest — debut suggests some investor appetite for micromobility at the right price, though the company's near-term trajectory hinges on refinancing the bulk of its remaining debt.
CEO Wayne Ting has signaled that the biggest growth lever is fleet density within existing markets rather than geographic expansion. 'The biggest growth opportunity for Lime has been growing in our existing market. When we deploy more vehicles into a single city, we improve our density,' Ting said [2]. Whether investors will tolerate continued losses while the company scales density and services its debt is the central question for Lime's first year as a public company.
Further sources
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