哈罗,这一好斗的共享单车后来者已经成为位列中国前三的共享单车公司
While big players like Ofo and Mobike focused on first-tier cities and some second-tier ones, Hellobike saw an untapped opportunity in third-tier cities and went for it
虽然像Ofo和Mobike这样的大公司一直专注于一线城市和一些二线城市,但Hellobike在三线城市看到了一片尚未开发的广阔市场,并为此刻苦努力着。
Staying in business for two years is not usually cause for a big celebration, but in China’s ruthlessly competitive bike-sharing industry surviving even for that relatively short period of time is a major achievement.
在商界呆上两年通常不是一个值得隆重庆祝的日子,但在中国残酷竞争的自行车共享行业即使在相对较短的时间内生存下来也是一项重大成就。
“It was hard when we chose to enter the bike sharing market,” Yang Lei, Hellobike’s 29-year-old chief executive, told a gathering of employees, investors, business partners and media at the company’s second anniversary event. “An investor asked me if I would do it over again if I got the chance. My answer is definitely not,” he said.
“当我们在选择是否进入自行车共享市场时,这以决策很艰难,”在该公司两周年纪念活动上,“Hellobike”首席执行官杨磊在一场邀请员工、投资者、商业伙伴和媒体聚会上如此说。一位投资者问我,如果我有机会我是否会再来一次。我会回答肯定不会,”他说。
By the time Hellobike was established, Ofo and Mobike had already
raised their C rounds of financing, and a slew of newcomers had just joined the fray in what was then a hot market, with registered users increasing more than six fold in 2017, according to iiMedia Research. The result: millions of bicycles of different colours piled up on streets across the country.
据iiMedia Research数据,在Hellobike等新来者刚刚加入了这个竞争激烈的市场时Ofo和Mobike已经完成了C轮融资,两者注册用户已经在2017年增长了6倍多。其结果是:数百万辆不同颜色自行车在全国各地的街道上堆积如山。
“First-tier cities surely have a need [for sharing bikes], but it was already a highly competitive market in those when Hellobike started,” said GGV Capital managing partner Fu Jixun in a company blog post.
“一线城市肯定有对共享自行车的需求,但在Hellobike启动时那里已经是一个竞争非常激烈的战场,”纪源资本管理合伙人傅继勋在公司一篇博客文章中表示。
“Each bike might get less than three orders per day in the tier-one cities, however you can get an average of three, four or five rides per day in the smaller cities where no one else competes,” said Fu, whose fund was an early investor in Hellobike.
他说:“在一线城市每辆自行车每天可能会得到三份一下的订单,然而在没有人竞争的小城市,你每天平均能得到三次、四次、甚至五次订单。”他的投资基金是Hellobike的早期投资者。
Hellobike currently operates in 300 cities across China
with more than 20 million rides booked every day, according to Yang.
Ninety-five per cent of Hellobike users are from second or third-tier cities and only five per cent live in the first-tier cities of Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Shenzhen, according to Trustdata reporting for the first five months of the year. In contrast, 32 per cent and 30 per cent of Mobike and Ofo users, respectively, are from first-tier cities.
据杨说,Hellobike目前在中国300个城市运营,每天有2000多万人次出行依靠哈罗单车。根据今年前5个月信托数据报告显示有95%的Hellobike用户来自二三线城市,只有5%的人生活在北京、上海、广州和深圳等一线城市。相比之下分别有32%和30%的Mobike和Ofo用户来自一线城市。
“Bike-sharing competition is all about capital. Whoever has enough capital can survive and whoever survives in the end might be able to turn a profit,” said Xue Yu, analyst at research firm IDC. “There hasn’t been a perfect business model in the industry yet. Venture capitalists who made a timely exit might be the biggest winners.”
“自行车共享竞赛是一场资本的博弈。国际数据研究公司分析师薛瑜表示:“无论谁只要拥有足够的资本,谁就能生存下来,谁能存活下来就有可能实现盈利。”“这个行业还没有一个完美的商业模式。那些及时退出的风险投资家可能才是最大的赢家。”
Despite the challenges facing the sector, Hellobike’s Yang said it is still “a good business” because there is a need in the market. “Many people are sceptical about [bike sharing] but that doesn’t matter because we have our own understanding of the industry,” he said.
尽管该行业面临诸多挑战,但Hellobike的首席执行官杨表示这仍然是一项“不错的业务”,因为市场上有这种需求。他说:“许多人对自行车共享持怀疑态度,但这并不重要,因为我们对这个行业有自己的理解。”
Hellobike is mulling plans to structure its operations into a variable interest entity, the corporate vehicle favoured by Chinese firms listing in the US or Hong Kong, meaning it could be seeking a public offering overseas.
Hellobike正在考虑将其公司业务结构调整为一个浮动利益实体。这是中国公司在美国或香港上市的重要企业工具,这意味着它可能寻求在海外上市寻求公开募股。