Mobike begins global expansion as it rolls into Singapore

Photo credit: Mobike.

China’s Mobike today rolled into Singapore, marking the startup’s first expansion out of its home nation.

The bicycle-rental app, after weeks of quiet testing and “months of research,” is now active in the city-state, the startup said today. The service is focusing on “areas where demand for bikes will be highest, with a particular focus on areas where commuters travel to and from key transport hubs such as MRT stations. These include densely populated residential areas like Pasir Ris and Tampines, where workers and students will be travelling between their homes and nearby subway stations or bus stations,” according to a statement.

The silver and orange bikes can be found and unlocked using the Mobike app – like this:

GIF by Tech in Asia; from Mobike video.

Payment for the service, which starts as low as US$0.35 for 30 minutes, goes through debit or credit cards.

Mobike, which has raised over US$320 million, claims to be the world’s biggest bike-sharing company, with over 1 million bikes deployed across 33 Chinese cities. It has numerous rivals in China. In Singapore, meanwhile, it’s challenging homegrown startup Obike.

“We are actively looking at opportunities in other international cities” aside from Singapore, a Mobike spokesperson told Tech in Asia at the start of the year.

See: Singapore’s Temasek invests in China’s Mobike ahead of expansion

Watch: Bike-sharing is now a thing