TOP STORIES 🔥

🍋‍🟩 Lime Goes Public. The Debt Goes First.

After years of speculation, the IPO is no longer hypothetical. Lime — or more precisely, its parent company Neutron Holdings — set terms for its Nasdaq listing on 22 June 2026, targeting $174 million in gross proceeds at a price range of $24–$26 per share. It is the first major micromobility public offering in years, and it has almost no margin for error.

The numbers

The offering covers 7 million shares with underwriters holding a 1,043,478-share greenshoe option. At the midpoint of $25, the implied market cap sits between $1.5 and $1.7 billion. Existing shareholders retain approximately 89% ownership post-offering. Uber and affiliates have indicated interest in purchasing up to $20 million of shares — a signal of continued strategic alignment from a company that already holds a 29% anchor stake following its $170 million pandemic-era rescue.

The use of proceeds is equally telling. Lime plans to use the bulk of the IPO money — approximately $114.2 million — to repay its senior secured term loan, with JP Morgan providing a revolving credit facility of ~$200 million post-IPO. "After IPO costs, taxes, and debt repayments, the net cash increase for Lime is estimated at just $30–40 million, bringing total post-IPO cash to around $300 million", reports industry analyst Prabin Joel Jones.

A survivor, not a conqueror

The S-1 contains a going-concern warning: Lime has a $584.8 million liquidity shortfall and $845 million in debt due this year. Without the IPO proceeds and the new JP Morgan credit facility, the company has stated there is "substantial doubt" about its ability to continue. This IPO is primarily a refinancing mechanism, not a growth instrument.

And yet the operational picture is genuinely strong. Revenue reached $886.7 million in 2025, up 29% year-on-year. The company has been free-cash-flow positive for three consecutive years, generating $104 million in FCF in 2025. It operates across 230 cities in 29 countries with an average fleet of 325,000+ vehicles. More than one billion rides have been completed since founding.

At roughly 2x revenues, as Prabin Joel Jones noted, Lime is taking a cautious approach to valuation. The question he raises is the right one: "What is a profitable, scaled, global micromobility platform actually worth?" The answer will set the benchmark not just for Lime, but for every operator, infrastructure provider, software company, and vehicle manufacturer in the sector.

Why it matters beyond Lime

A publicly listed Lime changes the information landscape for the entire sector. Quarterly filings will expose city-level economics, regulatory risk, and operational performance in ways that private funding never required. Bolt, Dott, and Voi will read every disclosure. So will the cities currently negotiating contracts with Lime — including TfL, which now knows that 22% of Lime's total revenue comes from the UK alone.

Lime's UK concentration is the single most commented-upon risk factor among sector observers. With TfL about to design a London-wide licensing framework under the English Devolution Act, and the UK e-scooter trial still without permanent legislation, the company is listing on Nasdaq at the moment its most important market is most in flux.

Lime will therefore fight hard to keep its position in markets where rules are changing. TfL now knows exactly how dependent Lime is. That is not a comfortable negotiating position — but it is, apparently, a Nasdaq-ready one.

🔋 MOL Bubi Reloaded

Twelve years, three generations

MOL Bubi launched in 2014 as a modest network of 1,100 bikes across 76 stations, funded by EU money and sponsored by Hungarian oil group MOL. The second generation transformed it: over the past four and a half years, users completed around 14 million trips and covered more than 31 million kilometres — a five- to eightfold increase in annual ridership compared to the original scheme. By 2023, the network had grown to 211 stations and 2,460 bikes. MOL Bubi became one of Budapest's most recognisable transport services, its green bikes a genuine fixture of the city's street life.

The second-generation contract expired in December 2025. BKK signed a new agreement with Inurba Mobility following a public procurement process that had been delayed by a City Assembly request for a risk assessment.

A phased rollout, bigger than anything before

The new system launched on 19 June with a closed testing phase, with public trials beginning in July. At launch, the fleet stands at approximately 3,300 bikes — 2,500 standard and 800 electric-assist. BKK plans to expand to at least 5,000 bikes over time, with coverage reaching all metro stations and major outer-district transport hubs.

MOL Bubi will launch from the existing 222 stations, but from September, the network will expand beyond traditional docking stations to include approximately 500 Mobi-points — the GPS-designated parking zones already used by Budapest's e-scooter operators.

Users holding a valid BudapestGO travel pass will be invited to test the service free of charge in July — a deliberate choice to embed the bike-share system within the wider public transport pass architecture from day one. Energy group MOL continues as naming sponsor while Mastercard joins as digitalisation partner.

A significant move for Budapest

Mayor Karácsony has framed Bubi 3.0 explicitly as a statement about what the city of the future looks like — not just a transport service but an icon. The e-bikes are the strategic bet: designed to attract users for whom hills, distance, or fitness had previously made cycling impractical.

Doubling the fleet, adding electric assistance, and expanding to outer districts all in one move makes this one of the largest single micromobility developments in Central Europe this year.

LAUNCHES & EXPANSIONS 🚀

Beryl
Launch in Cornwall (GB) 🛴 (175)

Bit Mobility
Launch in Massa (IT) 🛴 (300) & 🚲 (200)

Dott
Launch in …

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PAUSES & EXITS ⛔️

Felyx
End of pilot in Waterlands (NL) 🛵

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TENDER WATCH 👀

🟠 Upcoming & Rumoured

Montpellier (FR) | 🚲
◾️Private services to take over the ending Vélomagg service
◾️2 licences will be awarded

Oxfordshire (GB) | 🛴 & 🚲
◾️The County Council is seeking for a single operator for bikes and scooters
◾️Operation area will expand beyond central Oxfordshire
◾️2-year contract (+2-year possible extension)

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CITY UPDATES 🌐

Adendorf (DE) | The StadtRAD service is offered as a substitute option during works on the train line.

Beersel (NL) | The city launches a survey to map the shared mobility needs.

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INDUSTRY NEWS 🗞️

Lime partners with the Austrian Federal Railways (ÖBB), and is now available in its ÖBB 360° Mobility Solutions.

pony partners with Mapstr, and offers free rides to Pro subscribers.

Voi opens a Mobility House in Vienna (AT).

Voi has published its 2025 Impact Report.

La Vie Est Belt uses old Vélib' tubes to produce belts, computer sleeves...