Tencent jumps into China’s bike sharing war

Photo credit: Mobike.

While new regulations threaten to throttle China’s ride-hailing industry, the country’s bike sharing industry is taking off. Tencent, the largest company in Asia and the Chinese tech giant behind WeChat, is joining the fray.

On Friday, Beijing-based bike sharing startup Mobike announced a new round of funding. It didn’t disclose the amount, but the list of participating investors includes Tencent, Sequoia Capital, and Wang Xing, CEO of daily deals company Meituan-Dianping, which raised a record-breaking US$3.3 billion round earlier this year.

Mobike raised US$100 million in series C funding less than a month ago.

“Currently, we’re not disclosing details [of any partnership with Tencent],” a company spokesperson told Tech in Asia.

Beyond “improving their product and service,” the startup hasn’t released any details on where it plans to spend its fresh capital. However, Tencent’s investment might signal a future integration of Mobike’s services into WeChat, something Mobike’s PR would neither confirm nor deny.

The friend of my enemy is my…investor?

Photo credit: Mobike.

Mobike’s funding news comes just a few days after Ofo, another bike sharing startup based in China’s capital, disclosed its own US$130 million series C round of funding. In its press release, Ofo said it planned to partner with one of its main investors, ride-hailing company Didi Chuxing, on integrating its services into Didi’s app.

Interestingly, Tencent is one of Didi’s investors. WeChat users can access Didi’s ride-hailing services through the social messaging app, which means that even if Mobike doesn’t have plans to join the WeChat ecosystem, its competitor does.

This post Tencent jumps into China’s bike sharing war appeared first on Tech in Asia.

from Tech in Asia https://www.techinasia.com/tencent-invests-mobike
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