Editor’s note: This was originally a two part report by Li Siyi and Jiang Xiaochuan for Tencent Finance. It has been translated and further edited for clarity and style by Linda Lew. In winning the bike-rental “arms race,” the number of bikes on the street has become the critical factor. China’s largest bicycle manufacturing hub has […]
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Are China’s bike-sharing platforms really part of the sharing economy?
China’s O2O market has seen quite a few companies doing interesting things, some succeeding, some failing. The latest hot vertical is bike-sharing. According to the China’s bike sharing industry mini-report by China Channel, Mobike (backed by Tencent and Foxconn) and Ofo (backed by Didi and Xiaomi) are clear market leaders amongst growing competitors. Founded in January 2015, the […]
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Updated: Cracks appear in DiDi and ofo partnership sparking doubts over ofo’s $700 million funding round
Insiders from ofo have confirmed to local media that ofo’s executive chairman, Chief Financial Officer, and other senior executives went on a “vacation” in July this year. A rift between ride-hailing giant DiDi and bike rental mammoth ofo might be the reason behind the event, Bianews has reported. ofo has since published a statement denying […]
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Bike-rental startup ofo lands series D+ backed by Alibaba’s Ant Financial
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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[Podcast] China Tech Weekly April 2: Tencent buys a 5% stake in Tesla
Editor’s note: This originally appeared on China Tech Insights, an English research unit affiliated to Tencent’s Online Media Group. This week: Baidu confronted with another executive departure Tencent expands investment in e-vehicles WeChat to push further into EU/US Didi considering 6B in new investment from SB Smaller Didi rival Shouqi considering new partnership Bike-sharing startups team […]
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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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Live from TechCrunch – How can a foreign hardware company enter China?
Shenzhen, the Silicon Valley in China, is becoming a must-destination for the foreign hardware startups to start their business. On the other hand, Chinese startups are starting from Shenzhen and expanding to global markets, such as educational robot kit Makeblock, drone maker DJI, and smartphone manufacturer Huawei. In the panel “Startup in Shenzhen”, Benjamin Joffe, Partner […]
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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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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 […]
