Hellobike, the China-based bicycle rental platform backed by corporates Ant Financial, WM Motor and Fosun, is seeking $500m to $1bn in new funding, Bloomberg reported today, citing people familiar with the matter.
Founded in 2016, Hellobike runs an app-based bicycle rental service with 200 million registered users. Company co-founder and president Li Kaizhu told Bloomberg in January this year it intends to go public some time in the future.
Ant Financial, e-commerce group Alibaba’s financial services and payment affiliate, co-led the company’s last round, sized at approximately $582m, in December 2018 with investment firm Primavera Capital.
Carmaker WM Motor provided a nine-figure renminbi amount of funding for Hellobike in mid-2017, after a similarly sized series B round featuring Chengwei Capital and existing backer GGV Capital earlier in the year.
Fosun Capital, an investment vehicle for diversified conglomerate Fosun, subsequently joined Ant Financial, WM Motor, GGV Capital and Chengwei Capital to invest $503m in Hellobike through a series D round that closed at the end of 2017.
Hellobike reportedly added $700m in an April 2018 series E1 round that included Fosun, Ant Financial and seven unnamed investors. Ant Financial subsequently invested $321m in the company two months later to reportedly increase its stake to 36%.
China’s bike sharing sector has been the destination for a lot of venture capital, but its members have run into trouble in recent months, with the next company to declare bankruptcy likely to be Ofo, which was valued at $2bn less than two years ago.
Although it is likely to also be losing large amounts of money, Hellobike’s service can integrate with others in Ant Financial’s ecosystem. Its largest rival, Mobike, is owned by Meituan Dianping, which rivals Alibaba in the local services space.
