AUSTIN, Texas — The electric vehicle company, Bird Global, has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy Wednesday.

The company is calling the financial turn “a financial restructuring process aimed at strengthening its balance sheet and better positioning the company for long-term, sustainable growth,” according to a release.

The electric vehicle company that was once appraised at $2.5 billion entered an agreement with Apollo Global Management and second-lien lenders that will provide Bird with $25 million in financing to help continue to operate during its restructuring.

Bird will also use the bankruptcy filing to go through a process to assess their assets that includes entering a “stalking horse” agreement with their existing lenders.

Bird was originally founded in 2017 and serves as a short-term rental business for modes of transportation such as e-scooters and e-bikes in 350 cities. Across the city of Austin, the company maintained a fleet of approximately 3500 scooters. 

The company went public in 2021 with the help of Silicon Valley investors.