ofo再获10亿美元注资
据两名知情人士介绍，中国共享单车初创公司ofo从电商集团阿里巴巴(Alibaba)等投资者手中至少筹集了10亿美元的资金。如今ofo的估值达到30亿美元，与竞争对手摩拜单车(Mobike)相当。两者主导着这个快速增长的市场。
Ofo has put 10m dockless bikes on China’s city streets, as well as 100,000 in 19 more countries , including an aggressive push into the UK and the US.
ofo在中国各个城市的街道上投放了1000万辆无桩单车，同时在19个境外国家投放了10万辆无桩单车，包括在英国和美国市场积极推进。
“Mobike versus Ofo is not just a battle between the two companies, but the whole ecosystem of services that their [respective] backers Tencent and Alibaba have created,” said Xue Yu, an analyst at IDC, the research company. Ofo and Alibaba declined to comment.
市场研究公司IDC的分析师薛宇表示，“摩拜和ofo之间的竞争不只是两家公司之间的战斗，而是它们(各自)的后台腾讯(Tencent)和阿里巴巴创造的整个服务生态系统之间的战斗。”ofo和阿里巴巴拒绝置评。
The shared bikes are connected to the internet and mostly GPS-tagged. They are unlocked and paid for using a smartphone app. Ofo’s app gives priority to Alipay users, the mobile payment platform run by Alibaba’s affiliate Ant Financial, while Mobike pushes Tencent’s WeChat Pay. Earlier this week, Ant Financial also joined a $350m fundraising round for Hellobike, the market’s third biggest start-up by users.
这些共享单车与互联网连接，绝大多数有全球定位系统(GPS)跟踪。使用者通过智能手机App解锁共享单车并完成支付。ofo的App优先照顾支付宝(Alipay，阿里巴巴旗下的蚂蚁金服(Ant Financial)运行的移动支付平台)用户，而摩拜力推腾讯的微信支付(WeChat Pay)。本月早些时候，蚂蚁金服还加入了哈罗单车(Hellobike)总值3.5亿美元的融资。哈罗单车是该市场用户量第三大的初创公司。
But bike-sharing companies have hit road bumps despite the money pouring into the sector. At least five start-ups have collapsed in the past six months. The companies have also been hit hard by bike theft and vandalism. Observers see consolidation as inevitable.
尽管资金不断注入该市场，但共享单车公司在发展道路上遭遇了坎坷。过去6个月至少有5家初创公司倒闭。此外，这些公司还受到了单车失窃和毁坏的沉重打击。观察人士认为行业整合在所难免。
“There are 10 players now, but only three will remain,” said Rong Hua, an investor in rival Xiaoming Bike.
“现在有10个玩家，但只有3个能留下来，”小鸣单车的投资者之一Rong Hua表示。
As companies build scale, they have had to spend heavily and have yet to become profitable. Groups are churning out millions of bikes, leading city governments to cap the number of shared bikes cluttering the streets.
在各个初创公司扩大规模之际，它们不得不疯狂烧钱，并且尚未实现盈利。各个集团投放了数以百万辆计的单车，导致多个城市的地方政府设定了投放街道的共享单车数量的上限。
An exception is the much smaller but profitable and publicly listed Youon Bike, which recently merged with Hellobike.
与之不同的是规模小得多但已经实现盈利并且成功上市的永安行(Youon Bike)。最近永安行合并了哈罗单车。
The companies are adamant they can become profitable from user fees. But some analysts say the driver will be enabling marketers, real estate planners and local retailers to tap into user data.
这些公司坚持认为，它们可以通过用户使用费实现盈利。但一些分析人士表示，盈利驱动因素将是让营销商、房地产策划公司和当地零售商利用用户数据。
