Hong Kong’s first bike-sharing brand Gobee to close down just over a year after launching

Gobee.bike, Hong Kong’s first bike-sharing service provider, said on Tuesday it will close its business in the city due to “enormous maintenance” costs that contributed to losses since it launched in April last year.

The start-up has halted user registration and account top-ups, and bikes will no longer be available starting July 17.

Users can apply for a deposit refund over the next 30 days, according to a statement Gobee.bike posted on its official Facebook account.

“The enormous maintenance cost has made it difficult to sustain operation,” chief executive Raphael Cohen said in the statement, adding that despite efforts made over the past year or so, the company was “still unable” to record any profit.

“The decision is not an easy one to make and we feel deeply sorry for the withdrawal of services,” Cohen said.

Gobee, Hong Kong’s first bike-sharing service, was launched in April 2017 with some 400 smart bikes in the western New Territories, with users able to unlock them by scanning a QR code with their mobile phones. Unlike existing bike rental services in Hong Kong, users did not have to pick up and drop off the bicycles at designated locations.