Bike-sharing startup X-bike receives undisclosed angel round in millions of USD
X-bike
Founder: Hu Jiarun
Founded in: 2017
Financing status: Angel round in 2017 amounting to tens of millions in RMB (few millions of USD)
Bike-sharing startup Xiaoxiao, on July 24, received its undisclosed angel round in millions of USD for partnering with new universities to place more bikes on campuses.
The past two years have seen many bike-sharing companies gaining support from venture capitals and conquering China’s first-and-second-tier cities. Even with pre-existing giants such as ofo and Mobike, the bike-sharing market size continues to grow. Some new players are climbing on board by offering unique services to exploit new opportunities. Right now, it’s quite easy to find an abundance of bikes in the CBD’s of first-and-second-tier cities, railway stations and other areas with heavy crowds. But, university campuses have largely been ignored. Even though universities are mostly away from city centers, they have a large population density. With X-bike grabbing angel investment, it can now seize the opportunity to meet bike-rental demands that exist on university campuses.
X-bike is a bike-sharing startup that targets customers on university campuses. The startups’ partnership with university campuses allows it to place its bikes for rent on campus. School authorities have promised to arrange for the university’s security department to inspect these bikes regularly, find broken bikes for maintenance and allocate bikes to crowded areas. Meanwhile, X-bike has promised to customize its bikes for universities by printing school’s badge on its bikes.
Founded in 2017 in Shanghai, it has formed partnerships with more than 30 university campuses. Users can rent the bikes via WeChat or download the app for X-bike.
X-bike’s bike rental service offers different subscription options. Users can freely rent its bikes with a RMB 499 guaranteed-deposit. Or users will be charged RMB 0.39 per half hour with a RMB 99 guaranteed-deposit. After users decide they no longer want to use X-bike, the guaranteed-deposit can be refunded back to users when requested. Additionally, students can upload their identification information to bypass the need for a deposit, only charging them the RMB 0.39 per half hour. Moreover, X-bike shares its profits proportionally with schools to support student activities.
This new financing round was from China Foundation for Youth Entrepreneurship and Employment and some other investors. The capital will be used to place bikes in new university campuses to cover more than three million students by the end of 2017.
Fintech company iQianbang receives USD 74M for Series B
iQianbang
Founder: Wang Jitao
Founded in: 2013
Financing status: RMB 500 million (USD 74 million) for Series B financing in 2017
Fintech company iQianbang, on July 24, received USD 74 M for its Series B financing round to expand its business to more industries.
iQianbang is a fintech company that enables individuals to invest in enterprises’ fundraising projects, such as car and real estate loans. The company has formed partnerships with banks to develop person-to-business and peer-to-peer products which, then, act as an agency between banks and customers.
Meanwhile, it has also developed innovative financial products with some banks and online game publishers. They do this by offering credit to users who want to buy consumer items highlighted in the games.
Founded in 2013 in Beijing, the startup, so far, has over 500,000 registered users and more than RMB 8.1 billion (USD 1.3 billion) in total transaction value.
iQianbang grabbed this Series B financing round from Zhang Peifeng, chairman of Shenzhen Grand Electronics Co., Ltd., a New Third Board-listed consumer electronics maker. iQianbang plans to use the latest proceeds to improve its technology, upgrade its brand and enhance its team.
(Top photo from Baidu Images)
