Lime, the Uber-backed electric bike and scooter rental company that has been hinting at an IPO since roughly the dawn of the micromobility era, has finally filed for an initial public offering. After years of will-they-won’t-they that made a Taylor Swift concert look decisive, Lime dropped its S-1 registration statement with the SEC early Friday morning. CEO Wayne Ting has been talking about going public since 2020 - through interviews in 2020, 2021, and 2023 - and TechCrunch had honestly sort of forgotten about it until the paperwork landed like a scooter abandoned in the middle of a sidewalk.

Lime’s financials show revenue climbing, positive free cash flow, and net losses narrowing after 2023, though there was a slight uptick between 2024 and 2025. Uber, which invested years ago, still accounts for about 14.3% of Lime’s revenue through a partnership that lets customers find and rent scooters and e-bikes via the Uber app. All of which suggests Lime is a growth company headed toward profitability - except for that pesky $1 billion in current liabilities, with about $675.8 million due by the end of 2026 and roughly $846 million due within 12 months. Lime does not have sufficient liquidity to pay that, and states plainly in the S-1 that if it can’t go public and raise the necessary capital, or renegotiate its debt, it may not be able to continue operating as a business. So the IPO isn’t just a celebration - it’s a Hail Mary.

Senior reporter Sean O’Kane dug through the risk factors and found some gems. Lime lists investment by cities in public road infrastructure as a risk factor - specifically potholes. Which made us chuckle, then nod in agreement, because potholes are indeed not kind to shared scooters. Lime also warned that a significant portion of rides are concentrated in a relatively small number of markets, with the U.K. alone accounting for 22.2% of its 2025 revenue.

Meanwhile, Uber has been busy. Last summer it announced a plan to launch a premium robotaxi service using Lucid Gravity vehicles equipped with Nuro’s autonomous tech, investing $300 million in Lucid and agreeing to buy at least 20,000 Gravity SUVs over six years. Uber recently raised that investment to $500 million and pushed the vehicle order to 35,000. Now a source familiar with the deal has revealed that Uber’s total financial commitment to Nuro - including its participation in the startup’s Series E round and future milestone-based investments - is nearly $500 million. Nuro just received two critical permits: a driverless testing permit from the California DMV and a permit from the California Public Utilities Commission. The company is already testing Lucid vehicles in autonomous mode with human safety operators, and last month expanded testing to allow Uber employees to request rides with a human still on board.

Kodiak AI’s first-quarter earnings offer a case study in how hard it is to commercialize frontier tech. The company announced commercial contracts with Roehl, a pilot program with West Fraser Timber Co. in Alberta, and a collaboration with General Dynamics Land Systems for military autonomous ground vehicles. But investors balked at the terms of its $100 million capital raise - shares sold at $6.50 each, a steep discount from the $9.10 closing price, and the raise included warrants allowing investors to buy additional shares as low as $6. The financing came from existing backer Ares Management and unnamed institutional investors. Kodiak’s stock fell 37% in after-hours trading before recovering slightly, as shareholders apparently decided to view the glass as half-full. Kodiak will likely need more capital as it burns cash chasing driverless trucking on public highways.

Other deals this week: Moment Energy raised a $40 million Series B led by Evok Innovations to repurpose EV batteries, with W23 and existing investors including Amazon’s Climate Pledge Fund and CIA-backed In-Q-Tel. Rocsys raised $13 million in an extended Series A led by Capricorn Partners for hands-free depot charging solutions. Aurora started hauling loads in driverless trucks in Texas for McLane - though the trucks still have human observers who cannot operate the vehicle. Lucid’s first-quarter earnings showed lingering effects from a supplier issue that caused a Gravity SUV recall, and the company changed its guidance on how many EVs it will build or sell this year. The 2026 Tesla Model Y became the first vehicle to meet NHTSA’s updated New Car Assessment Program tests for advanced driver assistance systems. Ouster launched color lidar sensors that CEO Angus Pacala believes will replace cameras. EV startup Slate lost a board member - the head of Jeff Bezos’ family office. Volkswagen became Rivian’s largest shareholder, pushing Amazon out of the top spot. And in our poll, 41% said California’s new AV rules hit the mark, 27.6% said they go too far, and 31% said they aren’t restrictive enough.