The funding spree continues in China’s bike-rental sector. Bike-rental startup ofo announced over the weekend that it raised an undisclosed amount in its Series D+ from Alibaba’s financial arm Ant Financial. Under the deal, ofo cooperate with Ant Financial in the fields of e-payment, credit system and globalization process. The announcement came less than two […]
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Ofo sued for $1.3m in wrongful death claim
2017 has been a great year for bike rental startups as they get more money and expand both domestically and internationally. However, that doesn’t mean that everything is rosy. On March 26, a boy under 12 years old was hit by a bus and died while riding an ofo bike. His parents are now suing […]
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Shanghai mulling bike-rental regulations
Shanghai is mulling rules to regulate the sizzling yet reckless development of the city’s bike-rental sector, local media is reporting (in Chinese). The new rules, expected to be introduced in May and come into effect in June or July this year, are the latest government efforts to deal with the growing problems emerging with the bike-rental […]
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Hacking blockchain, bike-rental and robotics at the TechCrunch Shenzhen Hackathon
Shenzhen’s rainstorms didn’t dampen the enthusiasm of students, designers and coders from all over the world participating in the 2017 TechCrunch Shenzhen hackathon, co-hosted by TechNode. In teams of 4 or 5, the participants took on challenges posed by sponsors Dianrong, Mobike, Meet Magento Association and Segway Robotics. Dianrong is China’s premier peer-to-peer lending platform […]
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How ofo is bringing China’s latest export to the rest of the world
Ofo, China’s latest bike-rental unicorn that Apple CEO Tim Cook paid his tribute to during China visit, is looking beyond the borders of the middle kingdom. “The act of bike-sharing could someday become a lingua franca, connecting people around the world,” said Dai Wei last week at Boao Forum for Asia. The company’s bold global […]
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The saga of the “bike-rental company that wasn’t” continues
Kala Danche (卡拉单车) is back in business. As you may recall, last week we reported that the company had lost over 75% of their bicycles in less than 20 days of operation. Because of that, their only investor made a quick exit, taking all the user deposits with him and triggering a cascade of questions […]
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Ofo founder confirms bike-rental functions will come to Didi app
Editor’s note: A version of this post first appeared on Yicai Global, the English-language financial news service of Shanghai Media Group. Yicai Global is one of just two dedicated Chinese news feeds connected to the Bloomberg terminal. Ofo, one of China’s many bike-rental brands, will be incorporated into Didi Chuxing, the world’s largest ride-hailing platform, according […]
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Ofo hits Australia while Bluegogo struggling to refund deposits
Ofo is taking over another global city: after conducting a pilot program in Adelaide in South Australia, the company is putting their small yellow bikes in Sydney. Ofo also announced that it will double its fleet in Adelaide. On the other hand, its Chinese rival Bluegogo seems to be facing difficulties. The company has denied […]
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Didi Bike operation was suspended for one day in Shenzhen
Chinese taxi hailing company Didi’s bike rental service, Didi Bike (青桔单车, meaning green tangerine bike in Chinese), was suspended for one day for not obeying the local law, Chinese media Shenzhen News is reporting. Bike rental companies hugely spread out last year, filling the Chinese streets with rental bikes. In order to manage rental bicycles, […]
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Ofo’s overseas operations show signs of cash crunch
More signs show that ofo’s cash crunch not only affect its domestic business but also its global expansion plans. The troubled bike hire giant has launched a warehouse sale of its bikes to downsize its operation in Singapore, a source with knowledge of the matter told TechNode. The ofo bikes on sale are sold brand […]
