A former Uber Technologies executive, Travis VanderZanden, helped to start Bird in 2017. It dropped electric scooters onto the pavements of major cities and let customers remotely unlock and rent them using an app. The model was widely copied, including by Uber, and turned Bird into one of the fastest startups to reach a $1bn valuation. It took only a few years for the scooter fad to fade, though. Bird and its closest competitor, Lime, cut staff and dialled back operations. Uber also retreated. The coronavirus pandemic dealt a further blow when people curbed travel and fled many of the city centres that scooter companies occupy.