X

China's Mobike could be bringing its orange two-wheelers to US

Beijing-based Mobike has begun hiring for positions in Washington, which means the bike-sharing unicorn could be coming to the US soon.

Zoey Chong Reporter
Zoey is CNET's Asia News Reporter based in Singapore. She prefers variety to monotony and owns an Android mobile device, a Windows PC and Apple's MacBook Pro all at the same time. Outside of the office, she can be found binging on Korean variety shows, if not chilling out with a book at a café recommended by a friend.
Zoey Chong
mobikes-new-bikes-in-singapore

Mobike unveiled a new bike model at its 100 days celebration in Singapore last week. The Beijing-based company now operates in 130 cities across China, Japan, Singapore and UK.

Mobike

A Chinese bike-sharing unicorn could be bringing its orange two-wheelers to the US soon.

On Monday, Beijing-based Mobike uploaded job listings in Washington, reported Wall Street Journal, which could mean the startup is launching its operations there soon. On Mobike's LinkedIn page, the company says it is hiring a Social Media Creator and an Operation Manager in the city.

If true, the move will be the latest in the booming bike-sharing economy, which has led to both Mobike and its rival Ofo to become billion dollar businesses. Mobike accounts for more than 70 percent of the Chinese bike-sharing market and has expanded to 130 cities across countries including China, Japan, Singapore and the UK.

In Washington, Mobike will have to compete with the local bike-sharer, Capital Bikeshare, which boasts more than 3,700 bikes at 440 stations across five jurisdictions. It's unclear if Mobike's dockless system will work the same in Washington as it does in other cities. But if it does, riders will not have to return bikes to designated stations after use, which could be its advantage over Capital Bikeshare.

Mobike did not immediately respond to CNET's request for comments.

CNET Magazine: Check out a sample of the stories in CNET's newsstand edition.

Logging Out: Welcome to the crossroads of online life and the afterlife.