Chinese bike-sharing unicorn Mobike is shutting down its Asia-Pacific operations outside of China as the prelude to a wider global retreat, according to reports.
Citing several anonymous sources, TechCrunch reported that Mobike laid off its Asia-Pacific operations team – composed of more than 15 employees – and contractors across its ex-China markets of Australia, India, Malaysia, Singapore, and Thailand.
Photo credit: Kentaro IEMOTO
Mobike reportedly plans to scale back on all of its overseas operations and focus solely on its home market, which accounts for the majority of its business.
Employees were said to be “taken aback” by the company’s decision, as they had been given the impression that Mobike’s prospects in its overseas Asia-Pacific markets were positive following its US$3.4 billion acquisition by Meituan-Dianping last April.
At the time, both companies indicated that Mobike’s core management team would remain in place to run it as an autonomous subsidiary of Meituan under its existing brand.
However, the startup’s service has been rebranded to Meituanbike in some locations. Mobike co-founder and CEO Hu Weiwei also quit the company in December, citing “personal reasons.”
In Southeast Asia, Mobike’s exit would effectively bring the bike-sharing boom of the past few years to an end. Its archrival and fellow Chinese company Ofo has also fallen on tough times: its Southeast Asian operations have effectively ground to a halt amid a cash crunch, and its Singapore operating license was suspended last month.
Singapore-based player Obike ceased operations last June and is now at the center of a police investigation around alleged misuses of users’ deposits. Meanwhile, ride-hailing unicorn Grab mothballed its bike-sharing project in favor of an e-scooter sharing platform.
Editing by Eileen C. Ang
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