Superpedestrian

Superpedestrian was a micromobility company founded in 2012 that developed the LINK e-scooter and operated shared scooter services in the US and Europe.⁶⁸¹⁴ The company raised $260 million across seven funding rounds, including a $125 million Series C in February 2022.⁶ Superpedestrian shut down its US operations on December 31, 2023, and later sold its European business to Zeus in March 2026.¹⁴¹⁷

Timeline

Money raised

Superpedestrian raised a total of $260 million across seven funding rounds.⁶ In April 2014, Superpedestrian raised a $2 million Series A round led by Spark Capital.⁶ In July 2015, Superpedestrian raised a $21 million Series B round led by General Catalyst and Spark Capital.⁶ In May 2018, Superpedestrian raised a $17 million Series B round from investors including General Catalyst and Spark Capital.⁶ In November 2019, Superpedestrian raised a $20 million Series C round from investors including Spark Capital and General Catalyst.⁶ In June 2020, Superpedestrian raised a $15 million growth investment led by Edison Partners.⁶ In December 2020, Superpedestrian raised a $60 million round from investors including Citi Impact Fund and OurCrowd.⁶ In February 2022, Superpedestrian raised a $125 million Series C round from investors including Jefferies, Antara Capital, and Sony Innovation Fund.⁶⁹¹¹ Forge reported that Superpedestrian's Series C valuation was $586.15 million.¹⁰

Investors named in the sources: General Catalyst⁶, Spark Capital⁶, OurCrowd⁶, Citi Impact Fund⁶, Jared Leto⁶, Paul Sagan⁶, Xavier Niel⁶, Hanaco Venture Capital⁶, Edison Partners⁶, Jefferies⁶⁹¹¹, Antara Capital⁶⁹¹¹, Sony Innovation Fund⁶⁹¹¹, FM Capital⁶⁹¹¹, Winthrop Square Capital⁶, One Way Ventures⁶, Tony Fadell⁶, Charles Kim⁶, Nikita Salnikov-Tarnovski⁶, David Karp⁶, Slava Rubin⁶, Terrapin Bale Venture Fund & Studio⁶, Republic capital⁶, Eastward Capital Partners⁶, Extol Capital¹⁰.

What happened

Superpedestrian was founded in 2012 as a transportation robotics company.⁶¹⁰ The company was spun out from MIT in 2013 by Assaf Biderman.¹¹ Superpedestrian developed intelligent e-scooters with self-diagnostic capabilities and vehicle intelligence platforms.⁶ The company launched its LINK e-scooter service in 2020 after acquiring Zagster.⁶¹⁴ Superpedestrian operated LINK scooters in dozens of cities across the US and Europe.⁶¹⁴

The company emphasized safety features such as Pedestrian Defense and Vehicle Intelligence.⁶⁸ Superpedestrian raised $260 million in total funding.⁶ In February 2022, Superpedestrian raised $125 million in a Series C round.⁶⁹¹¹ The company planned to use the funding to expand its LINK service and deploy Pedestrian Defense in 25 cities.⁶¹¹ Superpedestrian considered establishing a European R&D base in Ireland.¹¹

In 2023, Superpedestrian struggled financially.¹⁴ As recently as November 2023, fresh funding and a potential merger were on the horizon, but talks fell apart.¹⁴ On December 15, 2023, Superpedestrian told employees it was shutting down US operations at the end of the year.¹⁴ The company explored a sale of its European assets.¹⁴ Superpedestrian closed its US operations on December 31, 2023.¹⁴¹⁶

The shutdown affected 18 cities in the US, including Baltimore.¹⁶ In Baltimore, Superpedestrian removed roughly 2,000 vehicles from service.¹⁶ Superpedestrian's sudden collapse left Baltimore with only one scooter operator, Spin.¹⁶ The company's LINK app continued to work but showed no available vehicles in Baltimore.¹⁶ Superpedestrian planned to auction over 20,000 e-scooters in January 2024.¹⁴

The first auction was scheduled to open on January 23, 2024.¹⁴ A second auction was set to run from January 29 to January 31, 2024.¹⁴ On March 12, 2024, Superpedestrian completed a merger and acquisition with Surf Beyond for $5.44 million.¹⁰ In March 2026, Zeus acquired Superpedestrian's European operations.¹⁷ Superpedestrian's employees were tasked with retrieving scooters from cities before the shutdown.¹⁴

The company had asked for permission to pay wages and continue employee benefits during bankruptcy proceedings.⁵ Superpedestrian had 8,850 employees according to court documents.⁵ The company owed between $10 million and $50 million in assets and liabilities.⁵ Superpedestrian owed Wendy's International nearly $25 million, but this appears to be a different entity (Meritage Hospitality Group) and not Superpedestrian.⁵ Superpedestrian's LINK-Up equity program offered discounted plans for qualifying residents, with 70% of all LINK-Up rides occurring in Baltimore.¹⁶

The company partnered with local nonprofits Homeboy Industries and Chrysalis to employ their clients in Los Angeles.⁸ Superpedestrian's scooters were available in 57 cities across the US and Europe as of February 2022.⁶⁹ The company held more than 40 patents covering autonomous failure protection, fleet optimization, and vehicle context awareness.⁶ Superpedestrian's technology was described as the 'Volvo of e-scooters' for its proactive safety features.⁶ The company's Pedestrian Defense system used AI to alert riders when they were breaking rules.⁸

Superpedestrian's CEO Assaf Biderman co-founded the Senseable City Lab at MIT.⁸ The company spent eight and a half years designing its software and technology platform before launching.⁸ Superpedestrian's LINK scooters were launched in Los Angeles in August 2021 with 5,000 scooters.⁸ The company offered reduced fares through its LINK-Up program for users in government assistance programs.⁸ Superpedestrian's financial problems forced executives to shut down the company.¹⁶

The company's collapse was sudden, giving cities two weeks' notice before vehicles went offline.¹⁶ Superpedestrian's shutdown came just days before Bird filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.¹⁴ The company's European business status remained unclear after the US shutdown.¹⁴ Superpedestrian's CEO Assaf Biderman did not respond to a request for comment from TechCrunch.¹⁴ The company's workers who stayed during the final two weeks retrieved scooters from cities.¹⁴

Superpedestrian's collapse removed about 2,000 vehicles from Baltimore, cutting the city's scooter stock in half.¹⁶ Baltimore's Department of Transportation did not respond to a request for comment.¹⁶ Superpedestrian had generated roughly 1.15 million rides in Baltimore in 2023 along with Spin.¹⁶

Legal outcomes

• filedSuperpedestrian, Inc. et al v. Flykly, Inc. et al. was a federal civil lawsuit in the New York Southern District Court.¹²
• filedSepulveda filed a personal injury lawsuit against Superpedestrian Inc in San Diego County Superior Courts on July 22, 2022.¹³
• filedSuperpedestrian was involved in a Chapter 11 bankruptcy case (VESTTOO LTD., et al., Debtors) according to a court document.¹⁵

Where the founders are now

Assaf Biderman was the CEO of Superpedestrian and co-founded the Senseable City Lab at MIT.⁸¹¹ Biderman did not respond to a request for comment from TechCrunch regarding the shutdown.¹⁴

Sources

5. Wendy's franchisee operating 300+ locations files for bankruptcy, usatoday.com, 6 days ago
6. Superpedestrian Funding, Investors & Competitors | Multiples, multiples.vc, Sep 18, 20
8. Move Slow and Fix Things: E-Scooter Startup Superpedestrian Takes to LA Streets, Promising Safety and a Better Experience, dot.LA, 2021-08-26
9. Dott and Superpedestrian accelerate to new funding - Global Venturing, Global Venturing, 2022-02-03
10. Superpedestrian IPO Timeline and Financing Details - Forge, forgeglobal.com
11. Superpedestrian raises $125m as it eyes Ireland for R&D base, Silicon Republic, 2022-02-01
12. Verify That You Are Human, plainsite.org
13. Sepulveda vs Superpedestrian Inc, unicourt.com
14. Superpedestrian to auction 20,000 e-scooters after shutting down | TechCrunch, TechCrunch, 2024-01-04
15. VESTTOO LTD., et al.,1 Debtors. Chapter 11 Case No. 23, document.epiq11.com
16. Baltimore down to one scooter operator after Link’s sudden collapse, The Banner, 2024-01-04
17. Irish e-scooter operator Zeus buys Superpedestrian’s European business, businesspost.ie, Mar 2, 202

How this case file was put together

Every statement on this page carries a numbered note, and every note points to a court record, a regulatory filing or a named publication in the list of sources. Each statement was checked against the text of the sources it cites before it was published: a figure, a date or a name the cited source does not contain was cut rather than kept. Allegations are shown as allegations, with their status at the time of the source (filed, charged, convicted, pleaded, settled, dismissed or pending). Quoted lessons are the words of the person or publication named with them, copied from the cited source; nothing here is our own opinion of why the company failed.

If a fact on this page is wrong, use "Report an error" below and attach the record that shows the correct fact. Every report is reviewed by a person before anything changes, and a corrected page says when it was last corrected.

All case files2023micromobility