Bird confirmed that it entered “a financial restructuring process aimed at strengthening its balance sheet”, continuing to operate normally with the aim of growing in a “sustainable and long-term” way, according to a report by ECO.

Based in Miami, Bird has assets and liabilities between $100 million and $500 million, according to the lawsuit filed in Florida courts. The order protects the company from creditors who want to go to court to enforce the debts.

Present in 350 cities around the world, including Lisbon, Porto and other Portuguese cities, Bird adds that operations in Canada and Europe are not included in this request for protection against creditors and will “continue to operate normally”.

Bird was founded in 2017 by former Uber executive Travis VanderZanden. The model of renting scooters through a mobile phone application was widely replicated by the competition and made Bird one of the fastest start-ups to reach a billion-dollar valuation.

However, Bird's shares fell this year due to the drop in activity and, in September, the NYSE began the process of delisting the company from the stock exchange after its market capitalization remained below 15 million dollars for 30 consecutive days.