Brief: Mobike expands to the US

Mobike bicycles at the Lincoln Memorial reflecting pool, Washington DC. Photo credit: Mobike.

The news:

• Mobike launched in Washington DC today, marking the Chinese bike-sharing app’s first North American location.
• The Shanghai-based company said that it worked with DC local government on the rollout, using bicycles with a special frame and three gears that has been customized for the city.
• Mobike says that it is now present in over 180 locations worldwide, with more than seven million bicycles in service supporting over 25 million rides each day.

Why it matters:

• Ofo – Mobike’s Beijing-based competitors – launched its first Stateside service last month, selecting the northwestern city of Seattle as its beachhead.
• The US already hosts a number of homegrown bike-sharing providers, though these have typically required users to lock their bikes at specified locations, as opposed to Mobike’s and Ofo’s dockless model.
• Asia’s dockless bike-sharing startups have scored significant investment of late, with Chinese internet giants Alibaba and Tencent backing rival players. Mobike bagged US$600 million in a Tencent-led round back in June, while Ofo nabbed US$700 million from Alibaba and Didi Chuxing, among others, the following month. Singapore-based oBike raised one of Southeast Asia’s largest ever series B rounds when it secured US$45 million in funding last month.