Chinese internet giant Alibaba confirmed Thursday that it’s considering further investment into Chinese bike-sharing platform Hello Chuxing, once known as Hello Bike, 36Kr reported. But the firm added that there’s no further information to disclose at this time.
This statement follows a report by 36Kr saying Alibaba might provide several hundred million US dollars in Hello Chuxing’s new round of financing, citing a source close to Alibaba’s executives.
The source said that is not only because that Hello Chuxing has turned to be the No 1 player in China’s bike-sharing sector, but also because it has upgraded from bikes to a two-wheel ecosystem including both bikes and electric bikes.
Hello Chuxing invested RMB 1 billion (USD 144.5 million) with Alipay and CATL to form a battery-sharing business for electric bike users earlier this month.
Hello’s CEO Yang Lei said it estimated 350 million electric scooters are on the road in China currently, with 40 million vehicles sold annually.
36kr is KrAsia’s parent company.