China's Mobike eyes Singapore launch

[weijian]

I thought this is a little bit out of whack - Started by an ex Uber executive. My intuitive sense is that bicycle sharing are generally for niche areas like campuses, metro stations etc or at regions where there is already a culture of riding bicycles. The culture is been defined by a self-fulfillment sense of "i am going green" by riding bikes more than anything else like necessity. If it is more than necessary, the entry barrier (compared to a car) shouldn't be overwhelming for a bike for an individual, i suppose. Most aspiring people in developing countries and the like, should still prefer to have a car if they can afford it.

China’s Mobike eyes Singapore launch after raising $309 mil in Tencent-led funding
SINGAPORE (Jan 5): China’s bike-sharing start-up Mobike announced it will be launching in Singapore in 2017, following the close of its US$215 million ($309 million) Series D financing round on Thursday.

https://techcrunch.com/2017/01/04/mobike...n-tencent/
http://www.theedgemarkets.com.sg/sg/arti...ed-funding

Despite the big name involvement and large sums, it remains unclear whether these companies can turn a profit when they charge just 1 CNY (approximately $0.15) per hour. Consider that Didi is not profitable despite dominating China’s taxi on-demand industry with 10 million rides per day, and that Uber was burning $1 billion per year in China before agreeing to sell its business there, and the longterm viability of the cycle businesses is unclear.

[ksir]

I guess the cyclocity by jcdecaux is more sustainable as it combines with the ads. So the revenue is also from the ads attached to the bike. It is a simple great idea.

With Spore building up the cycle pathway, the bike sharing will be a stone kills few birds type of idea.
1. Reduce congestion/ diversify the crowd.
2. Sustainable exercise to fight obese issue.
3. Stop the trend of increase of electric scooter and hence less accident due to overspeeding on the sidewalk.
4. Stop over-usage of mobile while walking (i hope nobody cycle and stare-at-the-phone).

Just thinking out loud. (:

[opmi]

Mobike in PRC very messy or flexible, depending on how u see it.
Mobike can be parked ANYWHERE. not just the docking stations.
Not going to happen in SG.

Mobike can also add ads to the bike, docking stations and app. Not an issue.

[BlueKelah]

I dun see how bike sharing can be that profitable, even in China since bicycle is so cheap everywhere.

Singapore weather is either so sunny/rainy/humid and mosquito all year round, plus bonus weeks of haze every year, dun think many people will want to cycle, especially during work days loh, so busy working overtime liao where got time to wash up after getting all sweaty??

[weijian]

SG is just a hotbed for study on feasibility for future expansion i reckon, since there are no intra-country geographical considerations (eg. should i open in Shanghai or Shenzhen? New York or LA?) together with lower sunken costs/lax government regulations. I think there is a saying that goes "If your business model can survive the high overheads, hot weather, the metropolitan consumer and the small SG market"...you should be able to do a step better else where"

[weijian]

Will they be in competition with Mobike or actually Mobike can become a "sponsor" since it has limitless funds!

Wanted: Sponsors for Singapore's first bike-sharing scheme

THE hunt is on for corporate partners for Singapore's first bicycle sharing system, a fully self-service scheme that the government intends to pilot in three districts by the end of this year. The Land Transport Authority (LTA), the statutory board that's driving this initiative, has appointed Lagardere Sports and The X Collective (XCO) as the official sponsorship and marketing consultants. Lagardere Sports is a global sports marketing agency, while XCO is a wholly-owned subsidiary of SMRT Commercial. Their job is to lead the procurement of sponsorship and marketing opportunities to support the bicycle sharing scheme for the next eight years.

http://www.businesstimes.com.sg/transpor...ing-scheme

[Big Toe]

Bike sharing is a success in taiwan as they had the backing of everyone involved.

1. Giant(the bicycle company) made a bike just for this purpose and it costs about USD600, mid range bike, not too expensive for its intended purpose. The bike is the lowest cost component in putting together the scheme.
2. The government wholeheartedly supported it by building infrastructure and bicycles-only paths even within the city to support bike sharing.
3. The people are used to going green, (all trash are sorted, those that can be recycled are recycled)
4. The city traffic is bad, much like many cities in Asia, it is very unpleasant to drive around, bikes is a feasible alternative to scooters/cars/MRT.
5. I do visit taiwan every now(even stayed there for a while some years back for work) and then and it is easy to find a U bike(bike sharing), even in city centres. It is well utilized and sometimes you need to wait a while for the bike to be available.


As for Singapore, we are a long way off. Infrastructure is lacking, connectivity is not up to par. Shower facilities not easily available in office buildings in Singapore. But I do hope it takes off here and help ease the traffic. A city with less cars is a more livable city. I do drive but I try not to drive whenever I can. Besides the ridiculous costs involved, it is becoming a huge hassle to navigate the traffic and find parking. If I walk or cycle, I have no such problems. Also I would rather cycle than take MRT as the MRT is always so crowded nowadays. A packed train is a unhappy place to be in. come to think of it, I think I can survive quite well without cars/buses/mrts/etc if it's not for my work.

As for the companies involved in bike sharing, in no way can I see them being profitable if revenue is solely from rental. I will go as far to say it is a sure-lose business considering all the costs involved. However, if the scheme is subsidized and there are other channels of generating revenue, it might have a chance at survival. The likely scenario would be a corporate sponsor(probably GLC) to carry the scheme forward and probably let someone experienced run it. Singtel might be keen to sponsor since they sponsored F1 previously.

[weijian]

Over 300mil raised in just 2 months this year?! I can't forgot that we are still awash in liquidity even though Helicopter Ben has stopped printing for some time already.

Temasek jumps into China’s bike rental startup war with investment in MoBike

https://techcrunch.com/2017/02/20/temase...in-mobike/

[opmi]

胡瑋煒 摩拜單車的創始人

http://oldjimpacific.blogspot.com/2017/02/100.html

[cyclone]

China's Mobike wants its bicycles to cover 100 cities this year

By: Bloomberg
21/03/17, 11:17 am

SINGAPORE (March 21): China’s bike-sharing war will spread beyond the country this year with Mobike planning to more than triple its coverage to more than 100 cities globally before the end of 2017.

Mobike’s orange-hued bicycles have become a staple of Chinese sidewalks since it started formal operations last year. It’s attracted hundreds of millions of dollars from backers including Tencent Holdings, Warburg Pincus LLC, TPG Capital, Temasek Holdings Pte and Foxconn Technology Group. The startup will officially start services Tuesday in Singapore, its first non-Chinese location, where rival Ofo has also expanded.

Once the symbol of China’s working class, bicycles have become the latest battleground for global capitalists who are pouring money into apps that allow users to rent them in 30-minute increments. The advantage for clients is the ability to leave bikes wherever they’d like. Some of the largest providers in the nascent sector are already looking to expand overseas to gain scale, as the number of domestic players reaches saturation.

More details in http://www.theedgemarkets.com.sg/article...ities-year