Ant Financial Joins USD 350 Mln Round in Dockless Bike Share Service Hellobike
Tencent Tech, 12/04/17
Changzhou-based Youon Low Carbon Technology, operator of bike sharing app Hellobike, recently announced completion of USD 350 mln in Series D1 funding from Ant Financial, the financial services affiliate of Chinese e-commerce conglomerate Alibaba Group (NYSE: BABA), Beijing-based electric car maker and new energy travel solutions provider WM Motor Technology, Chengwei Capital, and Tianjin-based bicycle maker Fushida Bicycle (Battle). This is the company's first funding round following its merger with Jiangsu-based dockless bicycle sharing service operator Youon Low Carbon Technology in October.
Hellobike and Youon merged in October, and the new company is currently led by Hellobike CEO Yang Lei. Its business has developed quickly and reached 80 mln users by the end of November. Hellobike began deploying bicycles in November 2016, and the company is currently focused on providing shared bicycle services in third- and fourth-tier cities.
Chengwei Captial and WM Motor Technology previously participated in Hellobike's Series B and Series B+ funding rounds, respectively. Fushida Bicycle (Battle) is a bicycle producer and supplier to Hellobike.
Editor's Note: For more information on these topics, please see "Bike Sharing Services Youon, Hellobike Merge," MD 10/25/17, and "Rumor: Bike-sharing Service Hellobike Wins 9-digit Series B+ Funding," MD 6/29/17, and "Mobile Bicycle Sharing App 'Hellobike' Lands RMB 9-digit Series B Funding," MD 4/17/17 issues. Ant Financial is also a shareholder in Youon Low Carbon Technology, and both Ant Financial and Alibaba Group are stakeholders in rival bike share service Ofo (Bikelock Technology). Although Chinese news media have previously reported on Hellobike's Series B and B+ funding rounds, they have not reported on the company's Series C round. Similarly, Chinese IT industry investment information portal IT Juzi lists details of Hellobike's Series B and B+ rounds, followed by its D1 round, skipping its Series C round. Hellobike's PR department has not responded to Marbridge's calls requesting details about the company's Series C round.
Keywords: Series D VC funding wireless Alibaba Group Yang Lei BABA Youon Low Carbon Chengwei Capital bicycle sharing Hellobike Fushida Bicycle WM Motor Youon Low Carbon M&A Ant Financial Group
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