When Ofo launched in Beijing in 2015, it seemingly had everything going for it: a brilliant idea, a stash of cash and impeccable Communist party connections.
But just four years later, the bike-sharing service has been reduced to empty offices, graveyards of disused bright yellow bikes and virtual queues of disenchanted customers demanding their deposits back. Venerable investors, including tech heavyweight Alibaba, are braced for writedowns, and the company’s founder, Dai Wei, has warned bankruptcy is on the horizon.
Rival Mobike is still in operation, but generating huge losses for its parent company Meituan Dianping which has now rebranded its orange bicycles as Meituan Bike. Other competitors, Wukong and Bluegogo, have already folded.
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