Author: Florent Roulet, Managing Director, Technology Investment Banking, Stifel Europe
The first eight months of 2026 have been active for mobility. Across financing rounds, M&A, public listings, corporate separations and restructurings, I count more than 50 material corporate events.
The level of activity is encouraging but it should not be confused with a broad recovery. Capital remains concentrated among a small number of category leaders while weaker operators are still restructuring or failing. At the same time, diversified corporates are reconsidering whether they remain the natural owners of certain mobility assets, creating opportunities for financial sponsors, specialist mobility platforms and focused standalone businesses.
This is therefore a different cycle from the one we saw a few years ago.
It is defined less by abundant capital and ambitious promises and more by financial discipline, strategic consolidation and ownership change. Businesses with genuine differentiation can still raise exceptional amounts of capital, find credible buyers or access public markets. For everyone else, the bar has become significantly higher. The result is a market where asset quality and ownership increasingly matter more than headline transaction volume.
Five trends stand out for me.
1. Autonomy dominates deal value but funding remains highly concentrated
Autonomy has attracted extraordinary amounts of capital so far this year.
Waymo raised $16 billion, while Wayve closed a $1.2 billion Series D. Waabi secured $750 million alongside a further milestone-based commitment from Uber.
Those figures could easily create the impression that mobility funding has fully recovered. However, a small group of autonomy businesses absorbed a large portion of total capital, reflecting investor conviction in their technology and strategic positioning.
The same concentration can be seen in public markets. Momenta completed a Hong Kong IPO at an equity value of approximately $9 billion, while Einride reached Nasdaq through its combination with Legato.
Said differently, capital is available but only for businesses that can demonstrate genuine differentiation, scale and a realistic path towards commercial deployment. This concentration is likely to persist through the rest of 2026.
2. Shared mobility consolidates around stronger platforms while weaker players enter distress
Shared mobility produced one of the broadest transaction sets. GoMore combined with Getaround Europe, Swapfiets bought Dance and VisionEdgeOne acquired PubliBike to expand the footprint of its existing Inurba Mobility investment. Mutares also agreed to acquire Stellantis’ Free2move car-sharing operations and establish the business as a standalone platform.
These transactions involved very different buyers. GoMore is a strategic competitor, Swapfiets is a specialist subscription operator, VisionEdgeOne brings infrastructure-style capital and Mutares is a turnaround investor. This diversity is positive because it demonstrates that viable shared mobility businesses can appeal to buyers.
However, consolidation is only one side of the story. Accell’s February lender-led restructuring failed to prevent subsequent insolvency proceedings and bankruptcy in August.
Scale alone is not enough. The strongest businesses will continue to be those combining recognisable brands with disciplined fleet economics, attractive local positions and sufficient capital to manage seasonality and asset requirements. I expect further combinations between well-capitalised platforms and local champions.
3. Uber led strategic consolidation but its ambitions extend beyond M&A
No company has pursued a broader mobility consolidation strategy than Uber.
Its proposed €13 billion acquisition of Delivery Hero would scale its delivery footprint. It also acquired Getir’s delivery business and announced transactions involving Blacklane, SpotHero and FlyTaxi.
The logic extends well beyond acquiring revenue. Blacklane adds premium chauffeur services, SpotHero brings parking capability and FlyTaxi strengthens local taxi distribution. Delivery Hero and Getir deepen Uber’s position in food and grocery delivery and Uber’s recent partnership with Zipline now adds drones into the delivery mix.
Uber is progressively building the distribution and demand layer across multiple forms of transportation and delivery. Its advantage is not simply owning individual services but connecting customers, drivers and merchants through one platform.
This also explains why Uber continues to combine acquisitions with commercial partnerships and minority commitments. Its investment commitment to Waabi and partnership with Wayve show that it does not need to own every technology. In certain categories, securing long-term access to supply may be more valuable than buying the whole company. I expect Uber to continue mixing acquisitions, investments and commercial partnerships.
4. Public markets reopened for mobility, but valuation pressure remained
Mobility businesses have returned to public markets.
Lime completed a traditional Nasdaq IPO, Momenta listed in Hong Kong, while Einride and Factorial reached Nasdaq through business combinations with listed acquisition vehicles.
These transactions create new valuation benchmarks for investors and founders and provide liquidity routes for private shareholders. Lime’s listing is particularly significant for shared micromobility, a category that public investors previously associated with bankruptcies and disappointing SPAC transactions.
Nevertheless, access to public capital should not be confused with easy pricing. The public-market window has reopened selectively. Investors are willing to fund mobility businesses but they expect credible economics, sufficient scale and a clear use of proceeds. The IPO route is available again for the right players but it is no longer based on promises alone. Further listings are possible but valuation discipline will remain severe.
5. Corporate parents divested mobility assets, while specialist owners stepped in
Several large corporate groups concluded that mobility assets would perform better under focused ownership. Eaton announced the planned spin-off of its Mobility Group, while S&P Global completed the separation of Mobility Global. FORVIA, Continental, Mercedes-Benz, Conduent and Stellantis also pursued divestitures.
The buyers were not uniform. Lone Star moved for ContiTech, Arval acquired Athlon and Modaxo agreed to buy Conduent’s public transit business. These transactions attracted financial sponsors, strategic operators and specialist platforms.
This is not necessarily evidence that corporate parents have lost faith in mobility. In many cases, it reflects portfolio discipline. A business may be attractive but no longer fit the parent’s capital allocation priorities, growth profile or strategic direction.
Specialist ownership can give these assets clearer governance, dedicated investment and a more focused acquisition strategy. I expect this corporate reshaping to continue in the coming months, especially where mobility divisions require different capital, technology or customer expertise.
The next phase of mobility will therefore be defined not only by which companies can build attractive businesses but by which owners are best placed to finance and scale them.
