Ofo raises more than US$700mil
Chinese bike-rental startup targets expansion to 20 countries
BEIJING: Chinese bike-rental startup Ofo Inc raised more than US$700mil in its latest funding round to expand its business globally amid rising domestic competition with Beijing Mobike Technology Co and more than a dozen rivals.
The series E round is led by billionaire Jack Ma’s Alibaba Group Holding Ltd, Hony Capital and Citic Private Equity, according to an emailed statement sent by Ofo.
The company’s earlier investors, car hailing platform Didi Chuxing and DST Global, also took part in the financing.
The company declined to comment on valuation.
The round is the largest known financing by a bike-sharing company, overtaking a US$600mil round by Mobike last month.
The company had been seeking a valuation of about US$3bil in its latest funding round, people familiar with the matter have said.
Ofo is targeting an expansion to 20 million bikes in 20 countries by the end of this year.
The three-year-old company said it already has 6.5 million bikes in 150 cities.
“We will further upgrade our service for better user experience,” chief executive officer Dai Wei said in the statement. Before the current round, Beijingbased Ofo had amassed at least US$650mil in funding and obtained an estimated valuation of about US$2bil.
Besides Didi and DST Global, notable investors of Ofo include Ant Financial and GSR.
China’s fledgling bike-sharing companies are raising cash at an unprecedented pace, underscoring growing investor interest in ride-sharing beyond an automobile market dominated by Didi.
Mobike is backed by Tencent Holdings Ltd, Sequoia Capital, Hillhouse Capital and Warburg Pincus.