“There’s a chance of the bikes being sabotaged or stolen, so Ofo is looking at metros and considering targeting young professionals or the middle or upper middle-class sections”
Chinese bicycle-sharing startup Ofo, which is currently operating in more than 25 locations, including Singapore and Thailand in Southeast Asia, is planning to foray into India in the first half of 2018, says a report by The Economic Times, quoting unnamed sources.
The Beijing-headquartered company is already carrying out extensive ground research in India and examining the government policies and permissions required for foreign transportation businesses to operate, one of the sources told the publication.
Ofo will need to tweak its business model and and localise it to operate in the market, but the civic behaviour is a matter of concern for the company. “There is a chance of the bikes being sabotaged or stolen. So Ofo is presently looking at Indian metros and considering targeting young professionals or the middle or upper middle-class sections where literacy isn’t a concern and environmental sustainability is appreciated,” the person added.
Several state governments have responded favourably to Ofo’s India plans, said the person mentioned above.
Founded in 2014, ofo is a station-free bike-sharing platform operated via an online mobile app. It aims to solve the last-mile problem of urban transportation, helping commuters and travellers get to where they need to go by making bikes accessible to everyone.
As of today, it claims to have connected more than 8 million bikes in more than 170 cities in over seven countries. Our global community of users generates more than 25 million daily transactions.
Here is how it works
After downloading the ofo app (iOS/Android), users may scan the QR code or enter the plate number displayed on each bike to receive a passcode and unlock it. Its bike-sharing system requires no docking stations, providing flexibility for users to find and return bikes anywhere, anytime. Once they reach their destination, the user may park the bike anywhere that is legitimate, convenient, and easy for the next user to access.
In August this year, oBike secured US$45 million in Series B investment from a slew of investors, including Grishin Robotics, a VC fund owned by Dmitry Grishin (Co-founder and chairman of Russia’s Mail.Ru Group) and several family offices in Southeast Asia. As per a recent report, Grab also participated in this round.
A month earlier, Ofo raised over US$700 million in Series E funding led by Alibaba Group, Hony Capital, and CITIC Private Equity.
Currently, Ofo is in talks to raise new financing of more than US$1 billion.
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