(Bloomberg) -- China's two largest bike-sharing services both landed major investments within days of each other, one of them at an unprecedented $500 million valuation, according to people familiar with the matter.
Beijing-based oFo, which only this week announced a strategic investment from China's Didi Chuxing, raised at least $100 million from global private equity firms in a round that valued the two-year-old company at a half a billion dollars, the people said, asking not to be identified speaking about a private deal. Didi was part of that round, they said.
Crosstown-rival Mobike separately raised $100 million from Asian-focused Hillhouse Capital and other investors, people familiar with the matter said.
The fundraisings are unusually large for companies at their stage of development, and underscore growing interest in a ride-sharing arena beyond the automobile market dominated by Didi. OFo's valuation comes just two years ago after its inception on the grounds of Beijing's prestigious Peking University as a student project.
Once emblematic of China's socialist working class, bicycles remain popular among students and urban commuters across the country despite rapidly growing car ownership.
To contact Bloomberg News staff for this story: Lulu Yilun Chen in Hong Kong at ychen447@bloomberg.net, Gao Yuan in Beijing at ygao199@bloomberg.net, David Ramli in Hong Kong at dramli1@bloomberg.net. To contact the editors responsible for this story: Robert Fenner at rfenner@bloomberg.net, Edwin Chan, Peter Elstrom
With assistance from David Ramli, Gao Yuan, Lulu Yilun Chen
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