Ofo (bike rental system)
| ofo
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|---|---|
 |
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| legal form | Private |
| founding | (2014), 2015 |
| Seat | Beijing , China |
| management | Dai Wei |
| Branch | Bike rental |
| Website | www.ofo.com |
| Status: February 22, 2019 | |
Ofo is a bicycle rental system founded in 2014 and based in Beijing . Ofo is active in over 150 cities in China; the provider was meanwhile also represented in 13 countries and over 180 cities almost worldwide on the market. However, the international activities had to be completely abandoned at the beginning of 2019 due to payment problems.
Background, development, technology
Beginning of 2015
The precursor to Ofo was created in 2014 as a project by five members of the Beijing University Bicycle Club with a tourist focus. The first rental bike system under the name Ofo started in Beijing in mid-2015 with 2,000 bicycles . The name is a simplified view of a f ahrers on a two-wheeled o o .
In October 2015, 20,000 users had already registered.
The provider describes itself - with more than 10 million rental bikes - as the world's largest stationless bike rental system (as of mid-2018). The characteristic yellow canary wheels are equipped with drum brakes , a bicycle basket, dynamo-operated bicycle lighting and a 3-speed hub gear from Shimano . A special bicycle lock on the rear wheel is used to borrow items. The provider's bikes can be borrowed via a smartphone app.
International expansion from 2017
Ofo DE GmbH was founded in mid-2017 to promote business in Germany. In the summer of 2018, 3,000 yellow bikes were on display in Berlin. The offer started in August 2017 with 1000 rental bikes in Seattle, the first city in the USA . At the end of September 2017, the company announced that it wanted to expand to the Czech Republic, the Netherlands, Russia and Italy.
In July 2018 Ofo announced the withdrawal from Vienna ; The reason given was the high regulatory requirements. Before that, there had already been a withdrawal from Australia and Israel and a reduction in activities in India. In the same month the Berlin experiment was given up again.
Financial difficulties
Due to its rapid growth and despite several large financing rounds, the company could not go into profitability. a. because it got involved in a price war with its competitor Mobike in its home market of China, later also in other cities around the world , and numerous imitators appeared on the market. Because in the course of 2018 it became clear that the company had miscalculated its rapid growth and was in financial difficulties, all international activities with its worldwide presence were discontinued at the beginning of 2019.
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b The Economist: Lessons from the fall of China's bike-sharing pioneer , January 24, 2019, accessed January 25, 2019.
- ↑ “Ofo, so named because of the word's resemblance to a bicycle” ; accessed on July 19, 2018.
- ↑ Peking University: “ofo bicycle”: riding bicycles anytime and anywhere ( Memento of the original from October 28, 2017 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , accessed October 31, 2017.
- ↑ a b Test phase ends in Berlin: rental bike provider Ofo withdraws from Germany. In: berliner-zeitung.de. July 14, 2018, accessed July 21, 2018 .
- ↑ China Money Network, “Chinese Bike Sharing Firm Ofo Launches In US With Seattle Debut,” accessed October 31, 2017.
- ↑ Ofo announces China Daily: “European expansion” , accessed October 31, 2017.
- ↑ 宋 婧 祎: Chinese Ofo bike-sharing company ends service in Israel. In: chinadaily.com.cn. July 8, 2018, accessed July 21, 2018 .
- ↑ derStandard.at: After Obike, bicycle start-up Ofo is also withdrawing from Vienna . Article dated July 10, 2018, accessed July 10, 2018.
