Singapore’s oBike reaches 10m rides but lags far behind rivals

Photo credit: oBike

OBike, a bike-sharing startup started from Singapore, has just reached 10 million rides since it was founded in January 2017. However, the homegrown company is still lagging behind Ofo and Mobike, its far-larger rivals from China.

Ofo, backed by Alibaba, announced in December last year that it saw 32 million rides a day. Meanwhile, Mobike clocked 20 million daily rides as of April 2017 and has Tencent in its corner.

In terms of funding from external investors, both companies have outraised oBike by many multiples, Tech in Asia data shows. Both companies managed this even if the Singaporean startup raised one of the largest series B rounds in Southeast Asia’s history. OBike has not disclosed who its investors are, though an unnamed “transportation platform” was involved.

In a competition where having a massive war chest matters, oBike may find itself needing to raise substantial capital fast or risk bowing out. OBike appears to be at risk of losing its home ground in Singapore. According to App Annie, oBike ranks third and 10th in Singapore’s iOS and Android app stores, respectively. Meanwhile, Ofo and Mobike rank first and second in both app stores in the same country.

In addition to announcing its 10-million-rides milestone, oBike has launched a “franchise-like” initiative called the Global Business Partnership Program. It invites partners to run its on-the-ground operations in various countries in exchange for support from oBike headquarters and a share of revenue.

oBike now runs in 60 cities in 20 countries.

Tech in Asia is reaching out to various parties for comments, and we will update this article soon.

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from Tech in Asia https://www.techinasia.com/singapores-obike-reaches-10m-rides-lags-rivals
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