How Anywheel put the pedal to the metal

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Back in my university days, I remember having so little cash that I was doing whatever I could to save money.

Despite my house being about a 15- to 20-minute walk away from the train station, I’d still walk instead of spending a dollar for a bus ride. Some days, I’d be hanging out late with my girlfriend, and after sending her home, I’d have no more public transportation available. In those instances, bike-sharing was a godsend.

Normally, taking a Grab home would’ve cost me anywhere from S$6 (US$4.50) to S$10 (US$7.40) – that could buy me three or four meals! On the other hand, an Ofo bike ride would cost me less than half that amount.

Those rides were kind of tough, to be honest. Getting home took about 20 minutes, and there were lots of uphill roads too. It also led to one of the craziest incidents I’ve ever experienced, but that’s a story for another time.

Bike-sharing was a cheap, convenient way to travel for a cash-strapped student, and I was always grateful. That’s why I was rather sad to see that many operators closed down following stricter regulations.

One player, however, has emerged from the ashes of the bike-sharing apocalypse: Anywheel. I’m not too familiar with it, given that it was a smaller player compared to Ofo and Mobike, but it’s still going strong even today. Today’s story explores how it survived all these years.

Today we look at:

• Anywheel’s journey over the last seven years
• Carousell’s co-founder taking a step back
• Other newsy highlights such as Paytm Payments Bank getting probed and OpenAI’s new text-to-video model

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Two is better than… four?

Image credit: Timmy Loen

Anywheel’s story feels a lot like the tale of David and Goliath, and it’s nice to see that sometimes, bootstrapping your way to success is still viable. The best part? There’s still a significant market for bike-sharing services in Singapore, so it’s not like Anywheel only “won” because it’s the last one standing.

• Top gear: Today, Anywheel has Singapore’s largest fleet among bike-sharing startups. It has 30,000 bikes that serve 1.3 million users.
• No deposits: Unlike other operators, Anywheel doesn’t charge a deposit. Instead, it offers 30-minute rides starting from US$0.75.
• Fine, I’ll do it myself: The company has been bootstrapped since its inception, and it said that it has been net profitable “from February 2023 all the way until today.” Recently, the firm turned to advertising for revenue, with organizations like OCBC Bank and the Singapore Police Force displaying their ads on Anywheel’s bikes.

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