Earlier Tuesday, Switchback II Corp. (NYSE: SWBK) and Bird Rides, Inc. announced they secured approval to merge and take the micromobility company public.
IPO Edge and the Palm Beach Hedge Fund Association recently hosted a fireside chat with Travis VanderZanden, Founder & CEO of Bird Rides, Inc. and Jim Mutrie, co-CEO & Director of Switchback II Corp. to discuss the future of electric transportation, micromobility’s role in addressing the global climate crisis, Bird’s underlying business fundamentals, and the company’s business combination with Switchback II Corp. The panelists were joined by IPO Edge Editor-at-Large Jarrett Banks and Multimedia Editor Alexandra Lane in a moderated video session lasting approximately 60 minutes and including a Q&A with the audience.
Below are two highlight videos from the fireside, which an also be viewed in full by registering here.
Messrs. VanderZanden and Mutrie discussed:
- The future of transportation: What is micromobility?
- Digging into the economics of the booming micromobility sector
- Micromobility’s role in battling the climate crisis and affecting environmental change
- Covid’s short- and long-term impact on the micromobility sector
- Bird’s Fleet Manager model and how it’s changing the game
- Getting to the heart of Bird’s technology and its micromobility platform
- New cities, new products and the future for Bird and the micromobility sector
- Bird’s route to the public markets and business combination with Switchback II
- Bird’s financial profile and the investment opportunity at hand
About Bird
Bird is an electric vehicle company dedicated to bringing affordable, environmentally friendly transportation solutions such as e-scooters and e-bikes to communities across the world. Founded in 2017 by transportation pioneer Travis VanderZanden, Bird is rapidly expanding. Today, it provides fleets of shared micro electric vehicles to riders in more than 300 cities globally and makes its products available for purchase at www.bird.co and via leading retailers and distribution partners. Bird partners closely with the cities in which it operates to provide a reliable and affordable transportation option for people who live and work there.
About Switchback II Corp.
Switchback was formed for the purpose of effecting a merger, amalgamation, share exchange, asset acquisition, share purchase, reorganization or similar business combination with one or more businesses or entities. Switchback focused its search for a target business in the broad energy transition or sustainability arena targeting industries that require innovative solutions to decarbonize in order to meet critical emission reduction objectives.
About the Speakers:
Travis VanderZanden is the Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Bird, and has long been inspired to work on last-mile transportation solutions in large part because of his lifelong admiration for his mother, who drove a public bus for more than 30 years in his home state of Wisconsin.
Throughout his career, Travis has been at the forefront of innovative transportation solutions, most recently as a pioneer in the ride-sharing industry serving as Chief Operating Officer of Lyft and as a Vice President at Uber. Travis also founded the on-demand car washing company, Cherry, which was acquired by Lyft, and was Chief Revenue Officer and the first hire at Yammer, the business software company acquired by Microsoft. Travis has an MBA from the University of Southern California and a Bachelor’s in Business Administration from the University of Wisconsin, Eau Claire.
Jim Mutrie co-founded and has served as Chief Commercial Officer, General Counsel, Secretary and Director of the board of directors of Switchback I since May 2019 and will continue to serve Switchback I in such capacity until the closing of its business combination with ChargePoint. Mr. Mutrie also served as RSP’s Vice President, General Counsel and Corporate Secretary from June 2014 through the completion of the acquisition of RSP by Concho in July 2018. During his tenure, Mr. Mutrie led the negotiation and execution of approximately $13 billion of energy-related transactions and over $6 billion of financings, and oversaw Legal, Information Technology, Health and Safety, Human Resources and Government Affairs at RSP. Prior to RSP, Mr. Mutrie served as General Counsel and Compliance Officer at United Surgical Partners International (NASDAQ: USPI). From October 2003 to January 2007, Mr. Mutrie practiced corporate law at Vinson & Elkins L.L.P., representing public and private companies in M&A transactions and capital market offerings. Mr. Mutrie holds a B.A. from Cornell University, a J.D. from Northwestern University School of Law, a Certificate in Financial Management from Cornell University and a Certificate in Financial Skills from SMU Cox School of Business, Executive Education.
Contact:
John Jannarone, Editor-in-Chief
editor@IPO-Edge.com
Twitter: @IPOEdge
