Bird scooter company enters Latin America with launch in Mexico City

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) – California startup Bird announced Friday that it has launched its electric scooters in Mexico, reinforcing its efforts to revolutionize urban transport.

The launch marks Bird's entry into Latin America, a market that transport start-ups and investors see as a maturity for growth. The company also announced plans to expand its operations in Brazil.

Bird works from shared premises in Mexico City and has been recruiting locally for weeks, depending on job postings. She hired local staff and built a network of workers to keep the electric scooters charged, the company said.

Bird is still looking for a country director, the company said. Meanwhile, a general manager based in Austin, Texas, will oversee operations in Mexico.

Latin America generally has fewer regulatory hurdles for electric scooters than for auto companies such as Uber Technologies Inc. [UBER.UL], creating an easier path for growth, according to a Bird investor.

Bird has joined a professional association of mobility companies in Latin America, known as MaaS Latam, which works to promote its services to regulators and local authorities.

However, questions about where scooter users should drive the vehicles, the impact on bicycle lanes, the laws on helmet use and liability have preoccupied regulators around the world, pushing some cities to limit scooter licenses. Dockless scooters have also posed safety concerns when they are abandoned on sidewalks and in walkways.

Transport companies of all kinds have turned to Mexico and Brazil to develop. These countries are two of Uber's largest markets in the world. Didi Chuxing, China's transportation services company, acquired last year a Brazilian relay company, which launched its own network in Mexico in April.

Last month, Bird announced that its electric scooter service has made 10 million trips since its launch a year ago. The company has raised $ 418 million and is valued at $ 2 billion, a significant amount for a company that has just been founded.

Some scooter companies will struggle to live up to their ratings. Over the past year, electric scooters have taken to the streets of American, European and Chinese cities, and this proliferation is expected to largely result in price competition that could weigh on profits and force consolidation of the sector.

In Brazil, Bird will face a market already saturated with local competitors, including Yellow, launched by the founders of 99, as well as Ride and Scoo startups.