The bike rental war between Mobike and its rival ofo is still ongoing in China, with no end in sight. The pair has been waging an all-out war in terms of bike quantity and technology on and beyond their home turf. Now they set their sight on user experience. Mobike announced yesterday that it has […]
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Posted inOn the Cusp
Ofo starts selling ads on bikes and in apps
Chinese bike rental giant ofo has started selling advertisements on its bikes and apps (in Chinese) in an attempt to boost revenues amid increasing cash strain. The company will launch custom-designed bikes and the bike-body ads will appear in bike wheels, saddle and baskets for clients to reach the public with their messages. Rumors of ofo’s failure […]
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Ofo in talks to raise new financing of more than $1 billion
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 […]
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Mobike co-founder sues Q&A site Zhihu for defamation
Mobike co-founder Hu Weiwei is suing the operators of Q&A website Zhihu (知乎) for defamation after a user on the site claimed Mobike staff were involved in corruption. This comes just days after a corruption scandal at main rival ofo and forms part of a growing trend of tech company litigation in China. On May 9, […]
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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 […]
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[Podcast] China Tech Talk 03: Bike sharing business models – Mobike and ofo
John and Matthew go deeper on bike sharing and respond to some listener feedback. Questions they answer: How many bikes are on the streets? How many users do Mobike and ofo have? How much are these two companies worth? How do they generate revenue? What are some potential monetization strategies? How do Mobike and ofo […]
Posted inHeavy Hitters
Briefing: Didi takes punitive measures against deviant shared bike riders
The rules went into effect on Wednesday on Didi’s bike-rental platforms Qingju and Bluegogo.
Posted inHeavy Hitters
Didi reprimanded for introducing new shared bikes in Beijing in red tape snafu
Didi’s struggles in the bike-rental market led to a launch of its own brand, Qingju.
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2017 Q3 bike rental market analysis from Cheetah lab: Getting ready for winter
Statistics from the Cheetah big data shows that ofo and Mobike still occupy the majority of the bicycle rental market in the third quarter of 2017, Chinese media Lanjing TMT is reporting. As the weather turns colder, bike-sharing apps may witness usage decline compared to the second or third quarter as many people do not ride […]
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[Infographic] The differences between Mobike and Ofo
As the ride-hailing wars have disappeared, the latest war is bike-sharing (more like bike-rental), with Mobike and Ofo leading the pack. In case you weren’t sure how exactly they are different, WakeMeChat has made this handy infographic: Mobike’s technology seems to be a bit better, but how either company is actually making money is still a […]
