Didi hopes new strategies will help it complete a U-turn that will get it out of the dead-end in which it finds itself.
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As bike rentals cool, ofo chooses to stand alone
China’s bike rental industry has experienced a roller coaster over the past 3 years. At its height, there were nearly 80 bike rental startups in the market, brightening the streets with a rainbow of bikes. But in the fast-paced tech world, trends come and go quickly. Within a year, over 20 bike startups failed, including […]
Mobike vs ofo: The race for the world’s bike rental market
It is almost two years since Mobike co-founder Hu Weiwei put around 50 bicycles on the streets of Shanghai and drove away. Ofo had a similar beginning, spreading out shared bikes on Beijing’s university campuses. This is how China’s dockless bike rental economy was born—from moves that could easily be branded as crazy. Today, bikes […]
4 take aways from 34 new Chinese unicorns in 2017: IT Juzi report
A “unicorn” refers to those companies less than 10 years old and valued at $1 billion or more. There were 34 Chinese new unicorn companies in 2017 that match these conditions, according to a new report released by Chinese startup database IT Juzi (IT桔子). In the first half of 2017, rental economy startups gained prominence […]
[Podcast] China Tech Talk 04: Exclusive interview with Florian Bohnert, Mobike’s Head of International Expansion
This week we switch up the format a bit to do our very first interview! Continuing our discussion of bike sharing, we invited Florian Bohnert, Head of International Expansion at Mobike, to talk about Mobike, bike sharing, and their plans inside and outside China. Questions How did you come to China/start working at Mobike? How […]
[Op-Ed] Taking a ride with Mobike outside of China
Editor’s note: This op-ed was contributed by Tay Choon Chong, Managing partner of Vertex Ventures. Vertex Ventures China invests in high-growth internet and technology start-ups across mainland China and provides funding support and value-add services to portfolio companies in their growth stage. With Mobike launching in Singapore, it’s first market outside of China, we thought […]
Top 15 apps you need for living in China
Say goodbye to Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram and welcome your new favorite apps. Here is everything you will need to navigate your China life. 1. Communication: WeChat (微信) The app to rule them all, WeChat is the very definition of indispensable in China. This is where you will connect with your friends, communicate with your […]
Mobike’s May 1st travel report shows what you can do with bike-rental data
Bike rental company Mobike has released a report of its user data from the Labor Day holiday weekend, providing one of our first pictures that can be built from bike rental data and an idea of how the company wants to reveal what it knows. “May 1st Little Long Holiday Cycling Report,” generated by the Mobike […]
“Anything can happen”: Ofo and Mobike investors talk about bike-rental war
On March 17, investors in both Ofo and Mobike took the stage at ChinaBang Awards 2017 to discuss the future of the bike-rental industry. Grace Gu, principal at Ofo-investor ZhenFund, and Xu Ying, Executive Partner of Mobike-investor Vertex Ventures talked about where they see the bike war heading. “We cannot say if there will be a merger between these […]
Has China’s sharing economy finally jumped the shark?
Bikes, bikes, and more bikes. China’s streets have been invaded by bike rentals of every hue. More and more Chinese entrepreneurs are sparing no effort to jump on the sharing bandwagon. Now, when you walk around the streets or hang around shopping malls, there’s a high chance that you’ll come across a slew of shared […]