EU Plans Meta Antitrust Fine
The EU plans to impose an antitrust fine against Meta Platforms for connecting its Marketplace classified advertisements with the social media network Facebook.
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 Bloomberg.
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.