Chinese bike-sharing company Mobike has bagged another $600 million investment, bringing the total raised up to $900 million since October.
Dubbed the ‘next big thing’ in the sharing economy, bike-sharing has proved popular in Mobike’s home market of China. The company have since expanded to Singapore, as well as launching a pilot service of 1,000 bikes in the UK. Mobike’s success has not gone unnoticed, attracting millions of dollars in investment from some of the world’s most high-profile investors.
According to Reuters, Sequia Capital, TPG and Hillhouse Capital all announced that they were part of Mobike’s most recent funding round on Friday. Chinese tech giant Tencent led the $600 million round, Mobike’s biggest to date as it seeks to expand aggressively.
A spokesperson from Mobike commented: “What we can say is that our business continues to expand rapidly and we believe we are the largest player in our market by a considerable margin.”
“We will accelerate the pace of global expansion, and our new target is to be in 200 cities by the end of this year,” said Mobike CEO Davis Wang told Reuters.
Since its launch just over a year ago, Mobike has negotiated software deals with Tencent and a tie-up with China’s most popular messaging app WeChat. Mobike currently has 100 million users and supports roughly 25 million rides a day, putting it at the forefront of its market. However, competition in the rise-sharing industry is tough, with its biggest competitor, ofo, raising $450 million in May from a range of investors including Chinese ride-sharing service Didi Chuxing.