BEIJING, CHINA, July 5, 2017 -- ofo, a leading bike-sharing company based in China, announced today that it has raised over $700 million in a Series E round of financing. The round was led by e-commerce giant Alibaba Group, Hony Capital and CITIC Private Equity, with participation from current investors DST Global and Didi Chuxing.  This is the largest round of financing in the bike-sharing sector to date, making ofo the highest-valued bike-sharing company globally.

CEC Capital served as the exclusive financial advisor to ofo in the transaction.

Launched in June 2015, ofo is China's largest bike-sharing platform with over 6.5 million bikes in use, generating over 25 million daily rides in over 150 cities across five countries.  By the end of 2017, ofo aims to deploy 20 million bikes in 200 cities across 20 countries worldwide.

 David Wei, ofo's founder and CEO, said, "ofo is devoted to providing user friendly, environmentally friendly, and healthy transportation services to its customers worldwide. We will continue to improve our user experience and increase our footprint in additional geographical markets both in and outside of China.  Our ambition is to make ofo a universal brand in every country and on every street."

As a lead investor in this round, Alibaba Group is a strong believer in ofo's future.  Joseph Tsai, deputy chairman of Alibaba, said, "ofo has redefined the short commute and enabled more people to embrace a low-carbon lifestyle.  Alibaba applauds ofo's market leading position and its open-platform strategy.  We look forward to working closely with ofo to unleash the full potential of bike-sharing worldwide."