Homegrown oBike gets S$60m funding for global expansion
oBike, Singapore's first homegrown stationless smart bike-sharing company, has officially launched in Singapore following trials and feedback from the public over the last two months. Photo: Nuria Ling/TODAY
SINGAPORE — Homegrown bike-sharing firm oBike has secured US$45 million (S$61.55 million) in early-stage venture funding, boosting its war chest to go up against its main rivals here, China companies ofo and Mobike, which recently secured hundreds of millions in funding.
The money would be invested in oBike’s expansion overseas, the firm said on Wednesday (Aug 16). Its investors include an unnamed global transportation platform and venture capital firm Grishin Robotics.
The dockless bicycles by oBike, with bright yellow and black frames, were first launched in Singapore this January, and they have since been rolled out across 30 cities in Australia, Asia and Europe. Last month, they entered Switzerland and United Kingdom as well.
By the end of this year, oBike plans to more than double its fleet, and has set its sights on more than 80 cities in South-east Asia and Europe.
Co-founder and chief marketing officer Edward Chen said that oBike has realised its vision of “transforming how people in urban Singapore travel using technology”.
“We aim to bring our success story in Singapore to other parts of the world with this round of funding... (and help commuters) reduce their carbon footprint at the same time,” he added.
Like Mobike and ofo, oBike’s “smart bikes” can be unlocked for use by scanning a QR code via mobile applications. The company also makes use of GPS (global positioning system) technology to track down bikes that have been indiscriminately parked.
While all three firms have positioned themselves as offering convenient first- and last-mile connections for commuters, many users also hop onto their bikes for leisure rides. Aggressive competition in the Singapore market has also led each firm to offer discounts — and sometimes free rides — for specific groups, and on special occasions.
Asked how the fresh investment will help oBike go up against its rivals, Mr Chen said that the firm would continue to improve its services by engaging with cyclists, the authorities, and existing and potential partners. Based on public feedback, for example, it recently launched lighter bikes designed for users with a smaller built.
As for its rivals, ofo said last month that it raked in US$700 million to power its global expansion, with plans to deploy 20 million bikes over 200 cities in 20 countries by the end of the year.
Mobike announced in June that it had raised US$600 million with backers such as China’s technology firm Tencent and the Chinese affiliate of Silicon Valley’s Sequoia, to ride its bike-sharing service into other markets, including Japan. Its bright orange bikes are mostly in China, but also in some 100 cities. The company expanded to Singapore at the end of last year and recently launched a pilot service for 1,000 bikes in the United Kingdom.
As dockless shared bikes continue to grow in numbers and reach, so have the woes that come with using them, and indiscriminate parking is the most prevalent one.
oBike, for instance, have made the headlines in the UK and Australia as its bikes have been spotted strewn around the streets, submerged in a river or hanging from trees. The firm has also fallen foul of the law in West London, where the authorities have been doling out notices that the bikes are “causing unnecessary obstruction to the highway”.
However, Mr Chen remains “confident” that the measures it has put in place can tackle the problem of errant parking. These include a penalty and reward system, indicators that point riders to designated parking areas, and tracking technology to locate bikes.
CLARIFICATION: An earlier version of this story said oBike raised S$45 million. The company has clarified the amount is US$45 million.
