Tencent leads $600m Series E for China’s Mobike

The valuation of the latest round - which brings the total raised by Mobike in 2017 to nearly $1 billion - was not disclosed. The company said it plans to accelerate its expansion across multiple markets, with a view to launching services in 200 cities globally by the end of the year.  

The investment gives Mobike additional dry powder in its ongoing battle with direct competitor Ofo, which paints its machines yellow in contrast to Mobike's orange, and claims to be worth in excess of $2 billion after five funding rounds over two years. The companies are burning through capital as they compete for market share by increasing the size of their bike fleets and subsidizing users through mechanisms such as waiving the deposits paid on opening accounts.

Mobike's Series E comes four months after it received backing from Singapore’s Temasek Holdings and existing investor Hillhouse Capital. Prior to that, it raised a $215 million Series D round led by Tencent and Warburg Pincus in early January, followed by a strategic investment from Taiwan-based Foxconn Technology Group.

New investors in the Series E round include Chinese banks BoCom International and ICBC International, and global asset management firm Farallon Capital, while the likes of Sequoia Capital China, TPG  Capital, and Hillhouse re-upped. 

Mobike was co-founded by former executives at Uber China and Ford Motor in January 2015. The company manufactures bikes equipped with GPS and smart locks, enabling customers to use a smart phone app to find a conveniently located bike, reserve it, and unlock it. On reaching their destination, customers park the bike by the side of the road and locks it.

The service was officially launched in Shanghai by in April 2016. Mobike claims to operate in 100 Chinese and Asian cities with more than five million bikes available. With over 100 million registered users, the company records more than 25 million rides a day at peak times. The latest phase in its global expansion will see services launched in the UK cities of Manchester and Salford.

Tencent first invested in Mobike in October 2016, participating in a Series C round led by Hillhouse and also featuring Warburg Pincus. Under a partnership agreement between the two companies, customers can scan and unlock a Mobike bike using Tencent’s social media platform WeChat, and also pay the rental fee through WePay Wallet.

China Renaissance acted as the financial advisor to Mobike.

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• Topics
• Greater China
• Technology
• Expansion
• Consumer
• China
• TMT
• Venture
• Growth capital
• Transportation
• Tencent
• Sequoia Capital
• TPG Capital
• Hillhouse Capital Management