Shared micromobility operators Forest and Bird have announced a strategic partnership to enable Bird users to access Forest’s e-bikes in London.
The integration will make Forest’s fleet of 15,000 e-bikes available to Bird’s millions of North American users who can book the service via the Bird App when visiting London.
It comes as both Bird and Forest are competing to secure a license in Paris, Forest’s CEO and Co-Founder Agustin Guilisasti exclusively told Zag Daily.
“The integration is the first of its kind in Europe between two major micromobility operators, allowing Forest’s e-bikes to be rented via the Bird app,” Agustin said.
“It helps to streamline access to bike share in London and is one solution to the fragmented global micromobility market which has seen several mergers and exits in recent years. For Forest, it provides overnight access to millions more customers, predominantly from the USA and Canada, tapping into the strong tourist market in the capital.”
With more than three million people from the US and one million from Canada visiting the UK every year, the partnership aims to enhance access to Forest’s service amongst Bird’s North American customer base.
Since 2021, Forest has achieved a 400% annual revenue growth and Agustin said this partnership will further strengthen the operator’s profitability.
“This additional revenue stream will help bolster our profitability further, having reached this impressive milestone just over a year ago, whilst expanding our affordable and sustainable e-bikes to even more people in London, particularly the lucrative tourist market.”
Agustin said Forest is focused on expanding and improving its offer in London, and is open to exploring similar partnerships.
The integration of Forest’s service into the Bird App comes into effect from today.
