Investors including corporates WM Motor, Fosun and Bertelsmann have divested their stakes in China-based bicycle rental service Hellobike, Kr Asia has reported, citing a regulatory filing.
Hellobike operates a bike rental platform with 200 million registered users. Reports last week stated it is looking to raise up to $1bn in its next round despite the difficulties of competitors such as Ofo, which is said to be heading for bankruptcy after raising more than $2bn in funding.
A total of 15 investors have exited the company according to the filing, including electric vehicle developer WM Motor, diversified conglomerate Fosun, Bertelsmann Asia Investments (BAI), which functions as a corporate venturing subsidiary of Bertelsmann, and venture capital firm GGV Capital.
Although it is unclear why or when those investors sold their stakes, and for how much money, a source familiar with the matter told Beijing News the changes reflected a restructuring process.
Ant Financial, the financial services affiliate of e-commerce firm Alibaba, is not among the exiting group, having initially invested in Hellobike in a $503m series D round in late 2017 that included WM Motor, Fosun subsidiary Fosun Capital, GGV Capital and Chengwei Capital.
WM Motor had already supplied a nine-figure renminbi (RMB100m = $14.7m) amount for the company earlier in the year, though it is unclear when BAI first invested.
Ant Financial and Fosun contributed to a $700m round for Hellobike in April 2018 before the former added $321m in June. The company was reportedly valued at $2.3bn when it last raised money, in a $582m round co-led by Ant Financial and Primavera Capital in December 2018.
Photo courtesy of Hello TransTech.
