Meet Hellobike, the scrappy latecomer that clawed its way to No 3 in China’s bike-sharing market
While big players like Ofo and Mobike focused on first-tier cities and some second-tier ones, Hellobike saw an untapped opportunity in third-tier cities and went for it
Staying in business for two years is not usually cause for a big celebration, but in China’s ruthlessly competitive bike-sharing industry surviving even for that relatively short period of time is a major achievement.
So when Shanghai-based Hellobike, known for its signature blue and white coloured bikes, threw a two year anniversary party at the city’s W Hotel on the Bund, it seemed entirely appropriate given that the start-up has clawed its way to No 3 spot behind Beijing-based Mobike and Ofo, which were founded three and four years ago, respectively.
A relative latecomer to the crowded market, Hellobike has survived a shake-out that saw rivals such as Xiaoming Bike and Kuqi Bike file for bankruptcy, becoming the No 3 player in the country’s bike-sharing industry.
Ofo and Mobike ranked first and second in May with 11.3 million and 9.3 million monthly active users (MAU) respectively, followed by Hellobike with 3.7. MAU over the same period, according to the market researcher Trustdata.
“It was hard when we chose to enter the bike sharing market,” Yang Lei, Hellobike’s 29-year-old chief executive, told a gathering of employees, investors, business partners and media at the company’s second anniversary event. “An investor asked me if I would do it over again if I got the chance. My answer is definitely not,” he said.
By the time Hellobike was established, Ofo and Mobike had already raised their C rounds of financing, and a slew of newcomers had just joined the fray in what was then a hot market, with registered users increasing more than six fold in 2017, according to iiMedia Research. The result: millions of bicycles of different colours piled up on streets across the country.