Editor’s note: Rumors are rife in China, especially so in a hotly contested area like transportation and O2O services. This news is unconfirmed and the veracity of Mobike’s financial and operational situation as outlined is unclear. Update 10:02 04 Apr 2018: The purchase has been confirmed by multiple sources. Follow our coverage here. Rumors of […]
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What do you think of Mobike and Ofo expanding to your country? We asked
Chinese bike rental companies Mobike and ofo expanded to more than 30 countries last year. While attending the SeedStars Summit 2018 in Lausane, Switzerland, we asked people from 5 different countries what they think about Chinese bike rental startups’ expansion into their home countries. Recent data from Cheetah shows that China’s active users of bike […]
Global bike rental is about to get even bigger: Cheetah Global report
Cheetah Global has come out with freshly-minted statistics on the state of the bike rental economy in the world. Public bicycles were first started in Europe but have seen their biggest success in the East starting from China’s dockless bike systems ofo and Mobike. According to the global distribution of active users gathered by Cheetah […]
Mobike, ofo say no to merger despite investor pressures
Despite the rumors and speculation surrounding a possible merger between Mobile and ofo, Mobike co-founder and CEO Davis Wang has made it clear again at TheYearAhead Summit that a “merger is not an option for the company,” local media is reporting. Similarly, ofo founder and CEO Dai Wei also expressed previously that the company would not […]
ofo announces $866 million funding round led by Alibaba amid cash strain rumors
ofo raises $866 million in latest funding round led by Alibaba
Mobike lands in Washington D.C., their first US city
Mobike, a major Chinese bike-rental company, has just placed their first batch of bikes in the capital of the United States as part of its ambitious global expansion plan. Closely following its largest rival ofo’s footprint, Mobike chose Washington D.C. as the first city in America to start running its business, whereas ofo just a month ago […]
Updated: Alibaba rumored to deepen involvement in bike-rentals with upcoming $1 bln Hellobike investment round
Updated 23 Jan 2017: TechNode Chinese has reached out to Hellobike, Fosun Capital and Hellobike’s early-stage investor GGV, but neither has confirmed the news. Chinese bike rental firm Hellobike (哈罗单车) is going to complete $1 billion worth of round from Ant Financial (an affiliate company of Alibaba Group), Fosun Capital, and some other existing investors, people familiar […]
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 […]
Mobike’s data strategy emerges on Baidu Maps
Mobike’s recently-announced data sharing strategy has just made a prominent appearance: Mobike – and Ofo – bikes are now visible and unlockable via the Baidu Maps app. The latest update of the app allows users to log in with their mobile numbers to hire bikes from the two main hire companies. The latest version of […]
Didi continues pivot into two wheeled mobility with beta test of electric bike rental
Chinese ride-hailing behemoth Didi is beta-testing its electric bike rental service in South China, a person with knowledge of the matter told TechNode. Didi is said to have won the initial support of at least three cities. The firm is expected to develop its own bike rental brand, or potentially a separate app, with an access […]