Lime files for a Nasdaq IPO

Lime filed confidential paperwork for a Nasdaq listing under the ticker LIME, according to TechCrunch, putting a long-discussed public offering back on the calendar for one of the largest shared e-scooter and e-bike operators. The company, incorporated as Neutron Holdings, reported $886.7 million in 2025 revenue across 230 cities in 29 countries, but also a $59.3 million net loss that year. The filing follows years of IPO talk, including CEO Wayne Ting telling TechCrunch in 2023 that the business had the “economics, growth, and profitability” to go public when markets allowed.

The numbers in Lime’s S-1 sketch a business that looks healthier in cash terms than in accounting profit. Revenue rose from $521 million in 2023 to $686.6 million in 2024 and then to $886.7 million in 2025, while net losses narrowed sharply in 2024 before widening again in 2025. At the same time, Lime reported positive free cash flow for three consecutive years, including $104 million in 2025, nearly double the prior year, which the company attributed to increased cash from operating activities.

That split matters because micromobility is a physical, city-by-city business where the hardest constraints are not software iteration but permits, parking rules, fleet caps, and enforcement. Lime’s filing highlights how much distribution can hinge on platform partners as well as municipal ones: about 14.3% of 2025 revenue came through its partnership with Uber, and Lime vehicles appear as a ride option inside the Uber app in “nearly all” shared markets under an exclusive relationship. Uber’s 2020 investment—$170 million—and Lime’s acquisition of Jump, Uber’s scooter and e-bike unit, effectively turned a former competitor into a channel.

For investors, the prospectus frames scale as both a moat and a liability. A larger fleet and broader footprint spread hardware procurement, charging, and maintenance costs, but they also multiply exposure to local political cycles and regulatory shifts that can change unit economics overnight. For cities, an IPO can cut both ways: a public company has stronger incentives to standardise operations and cut loss-making markets, while also gaining cheaper capital to outlast smaller operators when permit rounds tighten.

Lime’s prospectus does not yet disclose how much money it wants to raise or at what valuation. It does disclose that a business founded in 2017 is now large enough to post almost $900 million in annual revenue—and still not consistently turn that into net profit.