E-scooter rental startup BeeFly receives USD 14.8 M for pre-Series A
BeeFly
Founded in: 2016
Financing status: RMB 100 million (USD 14.8 million) in pre-Series A financing in 2017
E-scooter rental startup BeeFly, on July 20, received USD 14.8 M for pre-Series A financing round to help with its market expansion.
Ever since the concept of the sharing economy began to prevail in China, a plethora of startups have emerged, including bike-sharing, bed-sharing, umbrella-sharing and so on. Recently, an e-scooter-sharing platform has been launched in some cities across China with the support of venture capitals. The platform functions similarly to that of bike-sharing, but it can provide a better travel experience for some. Nevertheless, e-scooter-sharing has met with some setbacks, as it has been halted in some cities, such as Beijing, Shanghai and Shenzhen,
BeeFly is an e-scooter rental startup that meets users’ long distance travel needs. With a full charge, BeeFly’s e-scooters can reach a maximum speed of up to 30 km/h, thereby providing a efficient alternative for customers who need to travel from anywhere between 3 to 10 kilometers. On a full charge, these e-scooters have a range of up to 100km. Because of its shared similarities, Beefly’s app is easy to navigate for users who are already familiar with existing bike-sharing platforms. After an initial deposit of RMB 288 on Beefly’s app, users can easily rent the e-scooters, set parking reservations and finish payments via the app. After the their ride is complete, users are required to leave the scooters in easily-accessible areas for future customers.
Founded in 2016 in Beijing, the startup has signed on more than one million users and has placed tens of thousands of e-scooters on the streets of three cities. Moreover, by the end of 2018, it is expected to provide millions of e-scooters on the streets of first and second tier cities in China.
This new financing round was led by Sichuan Hite Co., LTD, with some other venture capitalists also participating in the round. The capital will be used to expand to new cities and for increasing the total number of e-scooters available for use.
Maternal and child service platform Mamabang receives tens of millions of USD in an undisclosed Series B round
Mamabang
Founder: Zhang Liang
Founded in: 2011
Financing status: Series B in 2017 amounting to hundreds of millions of RMB (tens of millions of USD)
Maternal and child service platform Mamabang, on July 20, received undisclosed Series B in tens of millions of USD. Mamaband plans to expand its business to the education industry by using big data and artificial intelligence technologies.
Mamabang is a maternal and child service platform that mainly provides its users with related knowledge and an online community for experience sharing. Users comprise mostly of parents with children between the ages of one and six. It also offers pregnant women a multi-scene knowledge and experience tools, covering topics ranging from pregnancy, postpartum, to child care and more.
Founded in 2011 in Shanghai, it has attracted more than 70 million lifetime-users and over five million active-daily users. Currently it’s introducing artificial intelligence technologies for combining smart Q&A functions to its existing platform offerings which will, in turn, enable users to have a quick and easy way to get answers. It is also introducing big data technologies in order to provide users with higher-precision content and services.
This Series B financing round was led by Future Education. Mamabang plans to use the funds to expand its business to the education industry and invest more on big data and artificial intelligence technologies.
（Top photo from Mmuu.com）
