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Uber-backed micromobility company Lime filed to go public on the Nasdaq on Friday, revealing growing gross revenue and ridership. It also notes that without an IPO, it risks going out of business.
Neutron Holdings, Lime’s parent company, would have to refinance its debt, and lists principal payments on loan commitments totaling around $845.8 million due within the next 12 months, according to its S-1 filing. “We do not currently have sufficient liquidity to repay them,” the company said. “Our ability to continue as a going concern is dependent upon the consummation of our initial public offering.”
It’s not unusual for a company to be unable to repay its loan commitments at maturity. But using an IPO as the primary repayment mechanism puts the company into tricky territory, as underwriters can end up with more leverage on pricing, said Sebastian Kian, senior private credit research analyst at PitchBook LCD.
“The company needs this IPO to address the 2026 maturities, and that dependence is itself a risk,” Kian said. “But if they have a refinancing path and are using the IPO to de-lever instead, that’s constructive,” he added. At the point of the IPO, Lime’s loans, structured as convertible debt, would convert to equity.
Lime’s situation, where the company took out substantial loans during the zero-interest-rate environment, and those loans are now approaching maturity, is becoming increasingly common. Around $85 billion in loan maturities will fall due between 2026 and 2029, putting borrowers under severe refinancing pressure amid significantly higher interest rates.
Lime has yet to become profitable and recorded widening net losses from $34 million in 2024 to $59 million in 2025. At the same time, Lime’s gross revenue grew from $686 million to $886 million, and its adjusted EBITDA grew from $153 million to $218 million.
Like many of its sharing-economy peers, Lime raised significant VC in its heyday, totaling more than $1.5 billion since it was founded in early 2017. But it struggled with a decline in ridership during the pandemic, and in May 2020, it closed a new financing round at a 78% discount from its previous valuation. Since then, its user base has recovered: Between 2023 and 2025, the company recorded a 40% growth in monthly active users.
Uber, which sold its micromobility arm Jump to Lime, holds a 29% stake in the company. Andreessen Horowitz, which led the Lime’s Series A at a $42 million valuation, holds a greater than 10% stake. Neither investor responded to PitchBook’s requests for comment.
Despite their growing user popularity, especially in major urban hubs like New York and London, micromobility startups have struggled to carve out a path to profitability. In 2022, Bolt, the electric scooter company co-founded by Olympian Usain Bolt, folded. Scooter rental startup Bird, which went public in late 2021 by merging with a SPAC at a $2.3 billion valuation, filed for bankruptcy just two years later and sold its assets to its lenders.
Lime’s S-1 highlighted some of the industry’s challenges: a crowded sector, high operating costs, significant seasonality in its business and regulatory risks. Madrid, Paris and two London boroughs have banned Lime scooters.
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