Berlin-based scooter firm Tier extends funding round to $100 million

FILE PHOTO: Tier e-scooters are ready to use at the entrance to a pedestrian area in Frankfurt

BERLIN (Reuters) - Berlin-based kick scooter company Tier Mobility said on Friday it had extended an investment round to more than $100 million as it seeks to expand across Europe.

Launched in October 2018, Tier now operates in 55 cities in 11 countries, growing in a crowded market that is facing pressure to consolidate and a backlash over the battery-powered scooters often left strewn by the side of city streets.

The additional debt and equity funding was from RTP Global, Novator and a U.S. venture debt firm, Tier said in a statement, and comes on top of a $60 million investment in October by Mubadala, the Abu Dhabi state investment vehicle.

RTP's Anton Inshutin said Tier had delivered "class-leading unit economics, enabling them to expand profitably in the winter".

Germany legalized kick scooters last summer. They were an immediate hit with people looking to get around town quickly and easily, while other city-dwellers have been irritated by the two-wheelers left cluttering pavements.

The upper house of parliament, however, recently voted down a proposal to require scooter operators, which include U.S. groups Bird, Lime and Uber Jump and European players Circ and Voi, to get permits to park.

(Reporting by Douglas Busvine; Editing by Edmund Blair)