Mobike bicycles at the Lincoln Memorial reflecting pool, Washington DC. Photo credit: Mobike.
The news:
- Mobike launched in Washington DC today, marking the Chinese bike-sharing app’s first North American location.
- The Shanghai-based company said that it worked with DC local government on the rollout, using bicycles with a special frame and three gears that has been customized for the city.
- Mobike says that it is now present in over 180 locations worldwide, with more than seven million bicycles in service supporting over 25 million rides each day.
Why it matters:
- Ofo – Mobike’s Beijing-based competitors – launched its first Stateside service last month, selecting the northwestern city of Seattle as its beachhead.
- The US already hosts a number of homegrown bike-sharing providers, though these have typically required users to lock their bikes at specified locations, as opposed to Mobike’s and Ofo’s dockless model.
- Asia’s dockless bike-sharing startups have scored significant investment of late, with Chinese internet giants Alibaba and Tencent backing rival players. Mobike bagged US$600 million in a Tencent-led round back in June, while Ofo nabbed US$700 million from Alibaba and Didi Chuxing, among others, the following month. Singapore-based oBike raised one of Southeast Asia’s largest ever series B rounds when it secured US$45 million in funding last month.
This post Brief: Mobike expands to the US appeared first on Tech in Asia.
from Tech in Asia https://www.techinasia.com/mobike-us-launch
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