China has experienced a massive bicycle rental through bike-sharing startups. But one by one these startups went bankrupt and left 25 million bicycles as junk.
There were 70 bike-sharing startups
The phenomenon of neglected, discarded and neglected bicycles can be found in many big cities in China. When bike-sharing was booming there were up to 70 startups offering almost the same business models.
The way they work is by placing their bicycles in several public places, then users just need to scan the barcode via cellphone to borrow it. When the business had subsided, these bicycles were still in public places.
Ofo is the first bike-sharing startup
Ofo is the first startup which offer a bike-sharing concept. The company’s valuation had touched $ 1 billion or had the status of a unicorn startup. Investors have poured billions of dollars into this business.
But this business did not last long. One by one the players went bankrupt. The reason is the price war that made startups burn money like crazy until the company ran out of money. Meanwhile, investors no longer want to inject funds into startups.
Now, Ofo as the strongest player, is experiencing financial difficulties. Alibaba’s Hellobike and Meituan Bike are still operating, although not as massive as they used to be.
As a solution, the government plans to recycle 25 million unused bicycles. It costs a portion of the citizen’s tax money. The bike is planned to all be recycled.
“Rented bicycles cannot be reused or sold. Recycling is basically the solution,” said Zhu Qi, manager at China Recycling Resources, as quoted by the South China Morning Post, Tuesday (6/10/2020).
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