ofo () is a Beijing-based bicycle sharing company founded in 2014. It operates over 10 million yellow-colored bicycles in 250 cities and 20 countries, as of 2017. The dockless ofo system uses a smartphone app to unlock bicycles, charging an hourly rate for use. As of 2017, the company is valued at $3 billion and has over 62.7 million monthly active users. As people who have used ofo had a bad experience, they nicknamed it "Awful", resembling the English word.
Video Ofo (bike sharing)
History
The company was founded in 2014 by five members of the Peking University cycling club as a project that initially focused on bicycle tourism before deciding on bicycle sharing. It was named "ofo" due to the word's resemblance to a cyclist on a bicycle. ofo was launched in June 2015 in Beijing, gaining 20,000 users and 2,000 bicycles by October with investment funding from a Peking University alumnus. In 2016, ofo expanded to other cities in China, claiming a fleet of 85,000 bicycles by the end of the year. The company raised $130 million in funding from tech firms Xiaomi and Didi Chuxing in September 2016, allowing it to expand outside China. A Series D funding round in February 2017, led by Didi Chuxing and Russian investor Digital Sky Technologies, raised $450 million for ofo and valued the company at $1 billion.
ofo began expanding outside China in 2017, with launches in Singapore in February 2017; Cambridge, United Kingdom in April; Seattle, United States in August; and Sydney, Australia in October.
In July 2017, ofo announced $700 million of additional funding in a round led by Alibaba, Hony Capital and Citic PE. In February 2018, Texas A&M University partnered with ofo and rolled out bike sharing platform on campus.
Maps Ofo (bike sharing)
Usage
Customers use the company's mobile app on their smartphones to locate nearby bicycles. Each bike has a QR code on the frame, which the customer scans to unlock the bike. ofo bike unlocking is also available on other collaborative apps such as WeChat and Alipay. Each yellow bicycle has the GPS satellite positioning which allowed the users easily see which bike is nearby and available.Customers use the bike and when they are finished, they leave it on a public bike rack and lock it. The bicycles use NarrowBand IOT to power the locks, developed by Huawei and China Telecom..
Business
ofo has connected more than 7.5 million shared bicycles and provided almost 500 million shared bicycle rides since its inception in June 2015. It also provided convenient travel services for more than 30 million users in 46 cities around the world. The application has booked more than 100 million rides in 2017.
ofo has cooperated with Alipay, China's largest online payment platform..
Controversy
Like many other dockless bike sharing companies, including ReddyBike and Obike, ofo's bikes have raised the ire of local communities, including Melbourne, Australia, Dallas, Texas, and San Diego, California. Because these bike companies do not ensure the bikes are parked properly, they can clutter sidewalks, blocking pedestrian and handicapped access. In response, several cities have banned the bikes altogether.
Bike clutter has been so extreme that some cities in China have reached "peak bike" capacity, and have begun regulating the number of bikes that may be deployed.
ofo was also nicknamed Awful due to people who do not usually use the service having a bad experience.
Locations
ofo bikes are located in the following cities:
References
External links
- Official website
Source of article : Wikipedia
0 Comments