[ad_1]
Less than a year after the entry of Chinese company Ofo Inc. in the United States with great ambitions, the world's largest bicycle sharing company plans to close most of its activities in the USA. US employees said on Wednesday that they were cutting off the vast majority of their workforce in the United States and were retreating to a handful of big cities, said these people. Ofo told staff that he is still figuring out exactly which cities he will continue to operate in, people said. It currently has more than 40,000 bicycles on more than 30 US markets.
At least three top executives have left US Ofo's operations in recent weeks, including its leader in North America, before the scheduled cut. ]
Andrew Daley,
The new head of Ofo in North America, said in a statement that the company has begun to "prioritize growth in viable markets that support alternative transportation and allow us to continue serving our customers."
Ofo is the world's largest berthless biker, which riders rent through an app, then leave where their ride ends. He claims to have deployed more bikes of this type than any other company, leading a company that reshaped urban transportation in China and other countries in the four years since it took off.
Ofo and his main rival, Beijing Mobike Technology Co., together claim about 20 million bikes on the streets of the world, using an economic model that inspired American capitalists to pay hundreds of millions of dollars recently in two companies of electric scooters. the same in the United States
Ofo this winter announced that he had secured $ 866 million in funding from donors, including
Alibaba Group Holding
Ltd.
Among other investors include the Chinese road transport service Didi Chuxing Technology Co.
Ofo began last year a big push in the United States and covered the cities of Dallas, San Diego, Scottsdale, Arizona and Seattle with its distinctive yellow bikes. For months, he offered free spins to win runners, as American competitors like Lime and Spin began to grow. He hoped to reach 300,000 bicycles on the streets of the United States by the end of the year 2018.
But growth has been slower than expected in the United States, where motorized bicycles Human are less popular than Otto and other funders. The ridership in many US cities is well below what companies need to break even, say former Ofo employees. In addition to the challenge, dense markets like Boston and Manhattan have exclusive bike sharing agreements with companies that have set up docks blocking the entry of dockless companies.
Write to Eliot Brown at [email protected]
Source link
