Bike-rental startup Mobike and China’s largest thin-film solar cell manufacturer Hanergy Holding Group (汉能) announced yesterday a strategic partnership that will see the latter’s thin-film solar panels integrated into the body of a Mobike bicycle so as to meet the electricity demand of its smart locks. The tie-up will give the bike-rental service a bigger […]
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[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 […]
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Gold bike startup looks for buyer as users demand deposits back
Crowds of people descend on the Coolqi bike hire scheme’s head office in Tongzhou to get their deposits back as Coolqi founder and CEO Gao Weiwei (高唯伟) tells our sister site that the company is not bankrupt, but that he has been removed as CEO (in Chinese). The company’s WeChat payments have been frozen and it is […]
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Mobike bike-rental feature added to Wechat Wallet
Users are able to access Mobike’s cycle-rental feature within the Wallet function of popular messaging app Wechat, our sister site TechNode Chinese is reporting. The Mobike bike-rental feature now appears on the WeChat Wallet interface. This marks a further tie-up after the pair made an announcement last month that users can unlock a bike by […]
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Shanghai just says “No” to more dockless bikes
Shanghai transportation authorities jointly announced on August 18 that no more new bikes should be placed in the city, taking a firmer stand in its moves to crack down on bike rental services, our sister site TechNode Chinese is reporting. “Upon the announcement of this regulation, all bike-rental companies should place a halt on introducing any […]
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Mobike joins ofo in Singapore with official launch
Months after dropping a hint for taking its services to overseas market, China’s top bike-rental startup Mobike announced today the launch of its hugely popular bike-sharing service in Singapore, the first stop of Mobike’s global expansion. Mobike’s operation in Singapore features its typical scan-and-go service. Singapore residents can now ride a Mobike by downloading the […]
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China releases first national guidelines for bike rental industry
After several tragic deaths and countless headaches for municipal authorities caused by the bike rental boom, the first guidelines for regulating bike rental for the whole of China have officially been published (in Chinese). The “guiding opinions on encouraging and regulating the development of bicycle rental” were signed by 20 state departments after the draft was […]
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Tencent ups the bike-rental ante with largest funding round so far
Mobike today announced that it has raised over US$600 million in Series E, the largest ever financing round in the bike-rental industry. This landmark round, putting the company at a valuation of between US$2 billion and US$3 billion (in Chinese), was led by existing investor Tencent and joined by Sequoia China, TPG, and Hillhouse Capital, among […]
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US firm says ofo leading bike rental race in China
The public spat between Tencent’s CEO Pony Ma and GSR Ventures managing director Zhu Xiaohu over who is the most popular bike rental platform has added fuel to China’s already heated bike rental industry. The discussions between investment moguls make it difficult for onlookers to dig up into the correct figures in the burgeoning market. Even […]
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Mobike announces “Magic Cube,” an AI made from its mountains of user data
Bike-rental startup Mobike announced yesterday the launch of its artificial intelligence (AI) data monitoring platform dubbed “Magic Cube”, in its renewed efforts to fight against its rivals, our sister site TechNode Chinese is reporting. This is the first time that AI has found its application in the bike-rental sector. “Magic Cube” is able to make […]
