oBike will roll out a thousand bikes in the country, as a start

On the heels of its US$45 million Series B round last month, Singapore bike-sharing startup oBike has announced its arrival in Hong Kong.

oBike will deploy 1,000 bikes in areas such as Lanma Island and Yuen Long, as well as Ma An Shan Park and Tsueng Kwun O, which has existing bike lanes.

“We know that people in Hong Kong are avid hikers. Our foray into Hong Kong will provide people with greater choice when it comes to living an active lifestyle, especially for users who do not own a bicycle,” said Edward Chen, Co-founder and Chief Marketing Officer of oBike, in an official press release.

“With an extensive 270km cycling lane, I am confident that cyclists in Hong Kong will embrace this bike-sharing scheme and utilise our services as part of their daily routine.”

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To use the bikes, riders have to pay a HK$ 380 (US$45) deposit then pay HK$3 (US$0.40) per 15 minutes.

The company’s expansion to Hong Kong is part of its plans to roll out its bikes to 80 cities by the end of 2017. Currently, within the APAC region, oBike is also available in Australia, Malaysia, Taiwan, and Singapore — where it is facing increasing competition from Chinese unicorn startups Mobike and Ofo, and smaller ones such as Neuron Mobility (although it is focussing on scooter-sharing).

In Hong Kong, however, it only has to contend with one challenger at the moment — Alibaba-backed Gobee.Bike, which has raised just over US$9 million, so oBike has the financial upper hand here.

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Image Credit: oBike.

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