Tier, the German electric scooter rental company, announced on Tuesday that it had raised $250m in a round led by SoftBank's Second Vision Fund.

It is the Japanese tech investor's first bet on the emerging market for scooter sharing and comes as many countries in Europe are re-entering lockdown to slow the recovery of coronavirus cases.

Electric scooters were hit hard by the first blockade, with many suppliers laying off workers to survive. Tier said the company had not made any layoffs related to the outbreak.

A spokesman for Tier said the company "makes one or two performance-related adjustments as part of standard business practice, but nothing else."

The round also attracted support from a number of other investors including Mubadala, Northzone, Goodwater Capital, White Star Capital, Novator and RTP Global.

The funding round values Tier Mobility at nearly $1 billion, making it the second-largest Sharing electric scooter company after Bird.