TIER Mobility SE is a leading European shared micro-mobility operator, headquartered in Berlin and providing e-scooters, e-bikes, mopeds and shared cars across more than 520 cities in 30 countries.
Founded in 2018 by Lawrence Leuschner, Matthias Laug and Julian Blessin, the company became one of the most heavily funded European mobility startups of the late-2010s boom, raising more than 800 million euros from SoftBank Vision Fund 2, Mubadala Capital, Goodwater Capital and White Star Capital at a peak valuation above 2 billion euros in 2021.
In 2022 TIER acquired Nextbike, a German bike-share network, and in 2024 it completed a merger of equals with Dutch competitor Dott to form one of the largest European micro-mobility operators, with the combined entity retaining TIER Mobility SE as the legal parent.
The business has pursued aggressive unit-economics improvement following the capital-markets pullback of 2022 and 2023, exiting loss-making cities and focusing on operator-friendly regulatory regimes primarily in Western Europe and the UK. The company remains private.
TIER Mobility is a useful counter-example within the Berlin SE landscape because the company adopted SE structure relatively early in its life, not after an IPO, making it one of the few Berlin tech companies to use the SE form while still private.
The motivation was not capital-markets signalling but rather operational: TIER operates in more than 30 countries through a web of local subsidiaries dealing with permits, vehicle-registration obligations, local taxi and transport regulations, and labour arrangements for fleet operators.
Consolidating these subsidiaries under an SE parent eased cross-border merger activity during the company's rapid geographic expansion.
The 2022 Nextbike acquisition and the 2024 merger of equals with Dutch competitor Dott further justify the SE form: the Dott deal involved combining two operating groups from different EU member states, a classic use case for SE formation by merger although in practice the transaction was structured as a share acquisition into TIER Mobility SE rather than a Council-Regulation-2157-formation merger.
TIER's cap table reflects the 2020-2021 European mobility funding frenzy: SoftBank Vision Fund 2, Mubadala and White Star Capital led rounds at valuations that are now understood to have been peak-of-cycle, and TIER has executed a quieter but substantial down-round-equivalent dilution through its follow-on financing and the Dott merger.
For founders, TIER's structure illustrates that SE status is accessible to private companies with qualifying two-year EU subsidiary relationships, and that the cross-border-merger benefits of SE form apply to private-company M&A just as much as to listed-company subsidiary consolidation.
The company also uses special-purpose vehicles to hold vehicle fleets for asset-backed financing, similar to Auto1 but on a smaller scale, typically structured through Luxembourg SARLs.
TIER converted to SE primarily for operational rather than capital-markets reasons. The company operates in more than 30 countries through a web of local subsidiaries, and SE status enabled cross-border mergers of these subsidiaries into the Berlin parent without liquidation.
The 2024 merger of equals with Dutch competitor Dott further justified the SE form by consolidating two cross-border operating groups under one EU-recognised legal entity. SE status is available to private companies with qualifying two-year EU subsidiary relationships.
In 2024 TIER Mobility completed a merger of equals with Dott, a Dutch-headquartered shared micro-mobility operator. The combined entity retained TIER Mobility SE as the legal parent based in Berlin, while Dott's Amsterdam operations were integrated as subsidiaries.
The transaction was structured as a share acquisition into TIER Mobility SE rather than a Council-Regulation-2157 formation merger, simplifying the mechanics while delivering the commercial result of creating one of the largest European micro-mobility operators.
TIER reached a peak post-money valuation above 2 billion euros in a 2021 Series D led by SoftBank Vision Fund 2, at the height of the European mobility funding boom. Subsequent capital-markets conditions deteriorated, and TIER pursued aggressive unit-economics improvement by exiting loss-making cities.
The 2024 Dott merger was widely reported as occurring at a combined valuation well below the prior peak, reflecting a broader down-round dynamic across the sector.
As of recent public statements, TIER has not announced a firm IPO timeline. The company's focus post-Dott merger has been on integrating the two operations, improving unit economics and reaching sustainable profitability.
The SE structure is compatible with a future Frankfurt listing, and the dual-seat flexibility of SEs also preserves optionality for an Amsterdam or London listing, although in practice Berlin SEs almost always list on FWB when they do go public.
