Singapore: There have been strong rumours that Mobike, one of the Chinese companies that pioneered dockless bike-sharing around the world is closing its international operations to focus on its home market.
Techcrunch reported that Mobike, once a start-up darling, is laying off its operations teams in Asia-Pacific including about 15 full-time employees, contract and third-party agency staff in Singapore,Malaysia, Thailand, India and Australia.Bike-sharing or cycle renting was started as a Peking University cycling club project in 2014 to focus on bicycle tourism.
It eventually morphed into bike-sharing and Ofo was the company that was launched as a result with initial funding from a Peking University alumnus. Although the name “bike-sharing” suggests that users usually pay a small deposit for the right to use the bicycle and hire the bike using a mobile app which scans a QR code on the bicycle to unlock it and make payment.
Payment is usually cashless via a mobile payment facilitator. The bicycles are of simple construction and made cheaply using a steel frame without gears and solid puncture-proof tires. There is an internet-controlled lock as well as GPS locator built-in.
The concept behind this business was to solve the last mile problem faced by people commuting daily between their homes and public transport when this last mile is beyond comfortable walking distance. It also caters to longer rides in towns and cities which attracts a large number of tourists or people cyclingfor leisure. Tencent-backed Mobike is not the first Chinese bike sharing company to enter India. Ofo was.
