Chinese bike rental company ofo is in talks to raise new financing of more than $1 billion, Reuters is reporting.
Ofo’s co-founder Yang Pinjie, now based in the Moscow, told Reuters that the amount of financing may exceed $1 billion, but refused to disclose that what banks were involved in the talks.
September 22nd was World Car Free Day, encouraging people to use public transportation in the urban areas, either riding a bike or walking. Ofo landed in four European countries on this day, including Russia, Czech Republic, Italy, and Netherlands. Ofo has established a close relationship with a local company Velobike and is expected to begin piloting in Moscow in 2018.
Zhu Xiaohu, president of ofo investor GSR ventures, said that if the merger between ofo and Mobike happens, then the merged company may be profitable, our sister media TechNode China is reporting.
Both the founders of Mobike and ofo said they have no need to merge. At the Summer Davos Forum in this June, where both the founders of Mobike and ofo attended, Hu Weiwei, co-founder and president of Mobike dispelled the rumors of a merger with ofo, and founder and CEO of ofo Dai Wei also said that they “do not need to merge, the industry is not about dominating a market, rather co-existing in the market together.”
Zhu Xiaohu said that the current bike rental industry is dominated by the two companies, accounting for 95% of the market share, at China Chief Economist Forum held at Fudan University.
In addition, he said that although ofo and Mobike accounted for the vast majority of market share, they still have to invest a lot of money every month to operate, so only the merged entity of two companies will likely to profit. And about “who mergers who,” the Zhu said that it is not important in terms of the capital.