The bike-sharing industry in 2021 and beyond
August 26, 2021
min. read
The bike-sharing industry is on the rise. It is the only mobility industry that statistics indicate didn't experience significant losses during the pandemic. The future is also bright as there are government initiatives around the world to support bike-sharing. However, there are things that newcomers in the business can learn from the previous leaders - success in the industry with high demand is no guarantee that the company will be a success.
A bike is a comfortable means of transportation in regions where motorized vehicles are widely used but create heavy traffic jams and pollute the air. This is a problem in regions like Asia-Pacific, North America, and Europe. And this is where and why bike-sharing has become popular. According to the Statista Mobility Outlook, bike-sharing was the only mobility sector that grew its global revenues during the pandemic by a third in 2020. The single-person set-up and open-air nature of bike riding made it the perfect mode of transportation for the pandemic.
Bike-sharing is a shared transport service in which convectional bikes or electric bikes are made available for shared use to individuals on a short-term basis for a price or free. Development of software, GPS technologies, mobile payments, and IoT devices, as well as reduced locking and tracking system costs for bikes, have recently led to the popularity of a dockless bike-sharing system that allows users to leave the bike anywhere convenient.
According to Mordor Intelligence, the bike-sharing market was valued at USD 3 billion in 2020, and it is anticipated that it will reach USD 4 billion by 2026. The COVID-19 pandemic affected the bike-sharing sector in several countries. The most negative consequences were the daily decline in bike bookings.
Bike demand is majorly driven by developing countries, such as China and India that especially focus on e-bikes. China has always been the largest exporter of e-bikes. According to China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, the country's output of electric bicycles reached 25.48 million during the first 10 months of 2020, a year-on-year increase of 33.4%. During this period, the revenue of major bicycle manufacturing companies reached about USD 22 billion, an increase of 16.8%. According to the China Bicycle Association, from January to September 2020, the volume of bicycle exports was 12% up on the same period last year, rising to USD 2.43 billion.
However, the bike-sharing market growth in Europe is predicted to be the fastest across the globe, as it is anticipated that a large number of service providers will venture into the region in the coming years. In regional countries, bikes are being rapidly made available near major transit hubs, such as railway stations, thereby offering users convenience and ease of travel. In addition, the European Union (EU) also promotes such services, because they are environment-friendly and help to reduce traffic.
Global bike-sharing service market size between 2020 and 2026 in billion U.S. dollars according to Statista:
Currently, major players in the bike-sharing market are:
- Uber Technologies Inc. - provides opportunities to rent a bike in a partnership with Lime. Jump brand bikes are available after Lime acquired the Jump company.
- Lyft Inc. - in November 2018, Lyft acquired Motivate, a bicycle-sharing system and the operator of Capital Bikeshare and Citi Bike. It thus became the largest bike-share service in the United States.
- Hellobike - a transportation service platform based in Shanghai, China. Founded in 2016, the company merged with Youon Bike the following year. In a series of fundraising rounds dating back to 2016, Hellobike has raised over US$1.8 billion from investors.
- DiDi Bike - Didi Chuxing Technology Co. is a Chinese vehicle for hire company headquartered in Beijing with over 550 million users and tens of millions of drivers. The company provides app-based transportation services, including bike-sharing.
The biggest companies in the market are associated with China as are the biggest deals. Looking at the recent biggest deals in bike-sharing, the first worth mentioning involved Didi Chuxing’s bike-sharing arm Qingju. It raised USD 600 million in a Series B equity fundraising round and will be granted an additional USD 400 million in loans.
What was also interesting that at the end of 2020 the mobile application of Mobike, one of China's earliest and largest bike-sharing providers, went offline after its acquisition by Meituan three years before. Mobike was acquired by Meituan for USD 2.7 billion in April 2018. In January 2019, in an internal letter to employees Wang Huiwen, co-founder and Senior Vice-President of Meituan, informed them that Mobike will be renamed Meituan Bike and that the firm would become a unit of the new parent's location-based service department.
The growing interest in e-bikes
One trend that will definitely influence the industry in the near future is the growing interest in e-bike sharing. Pedelecs or pedal electric cycles or EPAC (Electronically Power Assisted Cycles) are becoming increasingly popular. This is a type of electric bicycle where the rider’s pedaling is assisted by a small electric motor. Such vehicles are capable of higher speeds, compared to manually operated bikes. As the demand for higher speeds for short-distance traveling increases, so does the preference for e-bikes. People are ignoring the fact that sharing services on pedal-assisted bikes are cheaper than e-bikes, as the latter offers effortless driving, more convenience, and variable motor power, as well as higher speeds.
One of the most interesting investment deals in 2020 that underlines the interest in e-bikes involved London-based free-to-use shared electric bike firm London-based HumanForest. It announced in September that it had raised £1.8 million. HumanForest offers 20 minutes free per day and a corporate subscription service. It launched in June 2020. In just four months of the company’s operations, 14,000 riders have taken almost 42,000 rides with the number of rides increasing by over 100% month on month!
Later that year, the company raised £1.27m via crowdfunding with the support of over 520 investors, of whom approximately 30% were trial users. The company says that it ran a successful trial during summer 2020 in London with 200 e-bikes. The new funds will be used to expand the fleet to 1,500 e-bikes.
HumanForest’s business model is based on three sources of revenue - users pay 15p per minute after their free daily 10-minute ride is up, while partner companies pay to advertise their brand on the HumanForest digital platform and companies pay to offer their employees further minutes for the HumanForest fleet.
Bike-sharing - more positive than negative aspects
If we analyze positive, as well as negative aspects that could influence the future of bike-sharing, the positive aspects far exceed the negative ones. The only negative aspects are high initial investment costs, as well as the rise in bike vandalism and theft. Positive aspects that could stimulate the bike-sharing business in the future are growing venture capital investments, an increase in the inclusion of e-bikes in the sharing fleet, as well as technological advances in bike-sharing systems.
There is also increased interest from governments in different initiatives for the development of bike-sharing infrastructure. Furthermore, governments are offering subsidies to service providers for developing stations and expanding their reach to a large number of commuters. For instance, in 2018, Chinese Municipal governments subsidized the Public Bike Sharing Program development to encourage non-motorized transport and offer convenient, flexible, and low-cost mobility options. Meanwhile, in Europe, the new public bike-sharing system was launched in the Italian Municipality of Trieste in February 2020. The system, known as BiTS, is being implemented as part of the city's Integrated Sustainable Urban Development Plan at a cost of EUR 390,000, with the aim of developing sustainable mobility by promoting walking and cycling to reduce urban pollution.
Despite the fact that interest in bike-sharing is rising and will continue to do so, it is equally important to learn and not forget the mistakes of pioneers of the industry. For example, the company Ofo was founded in 2014 as a university project, but soon afterward raised $866 million from investors led by Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba. Ofo was a station-free bike-sharing platform operated via an online mobile application. In total, over the course of nine investment rounds, the company has raised USD 2.2 billion but has still consistently experienced cash flow problems that were driven largely by intense competition in a market that has yet to be proven to be commercially viable according to analysts interviewed by Forbes.
Fees dropped to 1 yuan ($0.14) for each hour of use and sometimes were even free. Despite this fact, Ofo still managed to reach a valuation of $2 billion in a 2017 funding round and around $3 billion at its highest point, and at one time the company deployed more than 10 million bikes globally and attracted as many as 200 million users. “The company’s cash-burning operations and high valuation have combined to deter potential investors, and when capital became scarce, the startup could no longer cover its once sprawling operations,” wrote Forbes.
In 2018, Ofo announced a massive reduction in operations, and by 2020 it faced a large amount of unpayable debt as a result of which the company was no longer operating bike rentals. “Explanations of what exactly went wrong are still evolving, but it seems likely that the mind-boggling amounts of cash pumped into what wasn't essentially a "bike-sharing" model, but rather a rental business pepped up by a smartphone app, had something to do with it. Yes, the company bought bikes and placed them in the streets without docks for anybody to use, and that was somewhat new. And yes, a smartphone app served as the key. But the company owned the bikes, just like any old-fashioned rental shop, and incurred huge maintenance costs,” explained analysts from Roland Berger Strategy Consultants, who were quoted in its magazine “Own the future”.
So it doesn't matter how big the demand for the service is, you should always apply simple business principles to your business.
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How to choose car sharing software: an operator’s checklist
🚗 Choosing car sharing software? Look beyond the rider app. Our checklist covers what to test in a demo, from keyless access and fleet operations to costs and support for both car sharing and digital rental.
September 23, 2026
min. read
Choosing car sharing software is more than choosing an app where customers can find and unlock a car. The same system has to verify drivers, take payments, communicate with vehicles, handle problems during a trip, and give your team the tools to keep cars available. The difference between two platforms often becomes clear only when something goes wrong: a customer cannot unlock a car, a payment fails, a vehicle needs to be taken out of service, or an operator wants to introduce advance bookings alongside short trips.
If you are comparing providers, ask them to show how these situations work in the actual product. Here is what to check.
Start with the operating model
“Car sharing” can mean several different things. A free-floating service lets customers find a nearby car and end a trip within an allowed area. A station-based service may require them to return the car to a specific location. Corporate fleets, peer-to-peer services, and self-service rentals have different booking, access, and approval rules.
Write down how your service will work before requesting demos:
- Can customers start a trip immediately, reserve a car for later, or both?
- Do they book a specific vehicle or a vehicle category?
- Where can they pick up and return the car?
- Will you charge by the minute, hour, day, distance, or a combination?
- Do you need deposits, subscriptions, corporate accounts, or different prices by location?
Ask the provider to configure these rules in a demo. A platform that supports “car sharing” in general may still require development to support your exact model.
Check the complete customer journey
The app needs to do more than display vehicles on a map. Follow one booking from the first app open to the final receipt. Check registration, ID and driver's licence verification, vehicle discovery, booking, payment authorisation, keyless access, trip extension, damage reporting, and trip completion.
For advance rentals, check whether customers can book from your website as well as the app. Ask to see the complete web-to-app journey: selecting a vehicle and dates, confirming the reservation, and continuing to payment, licence verification, and vehicle access. Find out whether the website can complete the entire rental or whether customers must install the app after booking. ATOM Mobility's web-booker, for example, lets customers reserve on the web and then complete payment, and ID verification in the app.
Then test the exceptions. What does the customer see if verification fails, the car does not unlock, the vehicle is no longer available, or the payment cannot be collected? Can your support team see what happened and resolve it without contacting a developer?
This matters because customers judge the entire journey, including how quickly they can recover when a step fails.
Make vehicle connectivity a separate decision
Car sharing depends on reliable communication between the platform and the vehicle. Depending on the vehicle and hardware, this may include location, lock and unlock commands, mileage, fuel or battery level, and other status data. Ask for a list of supported telematics providers, rather than accepting a general statement that the platform is “hardware agnostic.” For your proposed fleet, establish:
- Which functions already work, and which require a new integration?
- Is hardware installation required? Who supplies and supports it?
- What happens when the vehicle temporarily loses connectivity?
- Who investigates a failed command: the software provider, hardware supplier, or operator?
- What are the hardware, installation, connectivity, and integration costs?
Hardware flexibility is valuable when you expand or change suppliers, but the integration for the vehicles you plan to buy now is the first thing to verify.
Look closely at day-to-day fleet operations
The customer app gets the attention, but your team will spend much of its time in the management dashboard and operator tools. Ask a provider to show how staff:
- Take a vehicle out of service and make it bookable again.
- Find vehicles that need cleaning, charging, refuelling, or maintenance.
- Review a trip, customer issue, charge, or reported damage.
- Change prices, service areas, parking rules, and availability.
- Assign tasks and check what the field team has completed.
- Track utilisation, vehicle availability, revenue, and trips over time.
Try these tasks with the roles your own team would use. The question is not only whether a feature exists, but how many manual steps it takes to run your fleet every day.
Consider digital rental if it is part of your plans
Car sharing and digital rental increasingly overlap. An operator might offer cars for short city trips and also accept bookings for a weekend. A rental business may begin with advance reservations and later add app-based, keyless access for shorter trips.
The technology shares many components, but the booking rules can differ. A rental may require advance pickup and return times, vehicle or category allocation, availability calendars, deposits, extensions, and different customer handover processes.
If you may operate both models, ask for a demonstration of both: an immediate hourly trip and an advance weekend booking. Check how the system prevents overlapping reservations, applies the correct pricing and deposit rules, and gives your team a clear view of availability. Also establish whether both models can use the same customer account and management setup, or whether additional products and fees are required.
ATOM Mobility supports vehicle sharing and digital rental on its platform. The useful question for any provider, including us, is how your exact combination of models would be configured and operated.
Compare the full cost, not just the software fee
A low monthly licence fee can be attractive, but it may be only one part of the cost. Request a proposal that separates:
Launch, Setup, branding, app publication, migration, and training
Monthly minimums, fees per vehicle or booking, and included modules
Payment processing, refunds, deposits, and any additional transaction fees
Telematics hardware, installation, data plans, and new integrations
Ongoing work such as support level, custom development, and third-party services
Compare the likely cost at your launch fleet size and at a realistic larger fleet. Ask what happens if the fleet is seasonal or grows more slowly than planned.
Build, buy, or combine the two?
Building in-house can make sense when a company has the engineering capacity and needs a customer experience or operating model that available platforms cannot support. It also means taking responsibility for project management, app updates, payments, vehicle integrations, security, monitoring, and support long after launch.
A white-label platform can shorten the route to market and spread that technical work across an established product. In return, you depend on the provider's supported features, integrations, development priorities, and service levels.
Slovenian car-sharing operator GreenGo initially spent two years developing its own app before switching to ATOM Mobility. Its experience shows why it is worth comparing the time and resources required to build with what an existing platform can already deliver. Read GreenGo's story: https://www.atommobility.com/blog/greengo-chooses-atom-mobility-to-power-its-electric-car-sharing-business
There is also a middle option: use a platform for core bookings, fleet management, and vehicle connectivity while building selected experiences or integrations yourself through APIs. If this is your plan, review the API documentation and confirm what your team can actually read, change, and automate.
5 things to request in a provider demo
Before signing, ask each shortlisted provider to demonstrate the same scenarios:
- Register and verify a new rider, then make a booking and unlock the proposed vehicle.
- Extend a trip, report damage, end the booking, and see the final charge.
- Resolve a failed unlock or payment from both the customer's and support team's perspectives.
- Remove a car for maintenance, assign the task, and return it to availability.
- Configure your actual pricing and parking rules without developer assistance.
Use your intended vehicle models, payment markets, and operating rules in the discussion. For anything that cannot be shown, ask whether it is already available, needs configuration, requires paid development, or is only planned.
The best car sharing software is the one that supports your model reliably, gives your team control over daily operations, and leaves room for the business you intend to build next. A practical demo and a complete cost proposal will tell you more than a long feature list.
If you are evaluating car sharing alongside self-service rental, talk to ATOM Mobility about your fleet and operating model. We can show you how both models work on the platform and help you plan migration and scaling.
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Unlock more mobility opportunities with the ATOM Mobility and Umob partnership
🌍 Reach more riders with ATOM Mobility and Umob. The integration gives shared mobility operators an additional distribution channel, helping attract new customers, generate more bookings and improve fleet utilization.
September 1, 2026
min. read
The future of mobility is not just about operating vehicles. It is about creating convenient journeys that bring different transportation options together in one simple customer experience.
That is why we are excited to highlight our partnership with Umob, helping mobility operators expand their reach and become part of a growing multimodal mobility ecosystem.
Whether you operate shared cars, scooters, bikes or mopeds through the ATOM Mobility platform, integrating with Umob allows your service to become accessible to thousands of Umob users looking for a convenient way to travel.
Why this partnership matters
Today's users expect flexibility. They don't think in terms of individual mobility providers, they simply want the fastest, easiest, and most convenient route from A to B.
Umob brings different mobility providers and transport options together in one app. Users can find, compare, book and pay for different mobility options without having to download a separate app or create a new account for every provider.
By connecting your fleet to Umob, operators can:
- Reach new customers through an established MaaS (Mobility as a Service) platform.
- Increase vehicle utilization by attracting additional demand.
- Become part of multimodal journeys that combine public transport, shared mobility, taxis, and other transportation options.
- Grow without investing in additional customer acquisition channels.
For ATOM Mobility customers, the integration is designed to provide a straightforward way to unlock new distribution opportunities while continuing to manage their core operations through the ATOM Mobility platform.
How the integration works
Through the ATOM Mobility platform, participating operators can connect their fleets with Umob, enabling users to discover and use available vehicles directly through the Umob app.
Once connected, vehicles from participating operators can appear in Umob alongside other available mobility options, giving users one clear overview of the different ways they can get from A to B.
Users can discover an available vehicle, reserve and unlock it, start and end their ride, and pay directly through Umob.
The integration is designed to support:
- Real-time vehicle availability.
- A seamless booking and ride experience for users.
- Secure communication between platforms.
- Consistent operational control for fleet operators.
Operators continue to manage their fleet, pricing, service areas and day-to-day operations through the ATOM Mobility platform, while Umob provides an additional channel through which users can discover and access their vehicles.
Business impact
For mobility operators, connecting with Umob creates an additional distribution channel without changing the way they manage their day-to-day operations through ATOM Mobility.
By making vehicles available to thousands of Umob users, operators can increase their visibility at the moment people are actively looking for a ride. This creates the potential to attract new users, generate additional bookings and improve fleet utilization over time.
Every market is different, but many operators see MaaS partnerships as an important part of their long-term growth strategy.
Launch partner spotlight: ZEUS Mobility
One of the first ATOM Mobility operators to launch through the Umob integration is ZEUS Mobility, an ambitious European e-scooter sharing provider with a strong focus on innovation, a dynamic approach and challenging the established players in the market.
Fittingly, the partnership itself started through the ATOM Mobility network.
ZEUS and Umob first met at an ATOM Mobility event in Riga. While the initial introduction happened during the event, it was over drinks later that evening that the conversation really started.
ZEUS had already come across the Umob brand on mobility vehicles while travelling and had been impressed by the professional approach the company was taking. That recognition quickly turned into a conversation about how both companies could strengthen their propositions by working together.
From there, the integration moved forward quickly. ZEUS describes the preparation and integration process so far as “clean, professional and smooth.”
For ZEUS, the partnership creates an opportunity to strengthen the visibility of its brand, reach new customers and support its wider European growth ambitions.
Following its acquisition of Superpedestrian in May 2026, ZEUS is looking to accelerate its growth throughout 2026 and 2027, with the Umob partnership forming part of that ambition.
“ZEUS is thrilled to be partnering with Umob in European markets. Following our acquisition of Superpedestrian in May 2026, ZEUS is seeking to rapidly grow through 2026 and 2027. This partnership can help to drive this growth and reach new customers in new markets. We look forward to a rewarding partnership.” - Damian Young, ZEUS Mobility
About Umob
One app to ride them all. Umob is an all-in-one mobility platform that brings different mobility providers and transport options together in one app.
Users can find, compare, book and pay for shared bikes, e-bikes, scooters, mopeds, public transport, taxis and other available mobility options through one account and one payment experience. Instead of downloading and registering with a separate app for every provider or every new city, users can open Umob and see the available mobility options around them.
Today, Umob is available in 28+ countries and 300+ cities, giving thousands of users an easier way to access different forms of mobility both at home and while travelling.
Key facts
- One app for different mobility options.
- Find, compare, book and pay in one app.
- Available in 28+ countries and 300+ cities.
- Thousands of users already use the Umob platform.
- Multiple local mobility providers within one user experience.
- The same ride, for the same price as with the local provider.
Ready to expand your reach?
If you're already operating your shared mobility service on the ATOM Mobility platform, connecting with Umob could be the next step toward reaching more users and becoming part of a truly connected mobility ecosystem.
If you're interested in enabling the integration or learning more about how it works, get in touch with our team. We look forward to helping more operators connect, collaborate, and make sustainable mobility easier for everyone.
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