Pedal power

5 December 2017 By Pete Sweeney Follow @petesweeneypro

Having invested in bike-sharing giant Ofo, Alibaba affiliate Ant is putting another $300 mln into rival Youon. That’s 80 mln potential users to lock into Ma’s Alipay system. The move reflects rising stakes in a cutthroat battle with Mobike, backed by payments rival Tencent.

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Chinese bicycle-sharing firm Changzhou Youon Public Bicycle System said on Dec. 4 it raised $350 million from investors including Ant Financial, the financial-payments affiliate of Alibaba.

Shanghai Yunxin Venture Capital Management, a wholly owned Ant subsidiary, invested 2 billion yuan ($302 million) in Youon’s bike-sharing subsidiary Ditan Keji to become the largest shareholder with a 32 percent stake, according to a company statement to the Shanghai Stock Exchange.

Youon merged with dock-less bike-sharing brand Hellobike in October.

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