Aiming to provide a healthier transport alternative in the busy streets of Hong Kong, Gobee.bike is the city’s first service to provide cashless bike-sharing that doesn’t need docking stations.
“We really want to help the city and its people. Together we can make Hong Kong greener. We want to fight pollution and reduce traffic congestion as well, just by using the bikes,” says Raphael Cohen, CEO of Gobee.bike.
Having grown up in Paris, Cohen had long been accustomed to the culture of urban cycling. But finding a parking spot using the French capital’s Vélib’ bike-sharing scheme was a perennial challenge during his student days. Rather than docking at stations, users in Hong Kong can lock the bike securely at a place of their choosing and leave it for other users to pick up.
A GPS tracking device is installed on each green-liveried bike. And with only two taps, users can easily locate available bikes by using Gobee.bike’s app. When they find the bike, they scan a QR code to unlock it.
Having been running start-ups since he was in university, Cohen has a number of successful ventures under his belt, from selling tutoring and design services to co-founding HotelQuickly, a mobile app that provides last-minute hotel deals throughout the Asia-Pacific region.
He initially wondered if a bike-sharing service in Hong Kong would make financial sense. But a visit to Beijing, where he first encountered a similar service, prompted him to give the concept a go.
Cohen started researching the new venture in February this year and had it up and running by April. Since then, there have been more than 100,000 downloads of the app – a trend he hopes will continue – with the goal of keeping the bikes constantly moving throughout the day with different users.
Cohen did a lot of multitasking early on, from handling staff at the office and on the ground to managing software, hardware and logistics. “That’s why we had to make changes during the first few weeks. There was a lot of testing that we did not scale in the city. The hardware part was the most challenging,” he says.
Gobee.bike users must first create an account and register their credit card details to unlock the bikes. A fixed price is allotted for a certain period of time. Credit can be added for longer use.
Every day, the company receives reports on minor issues, such as when locks on the bikes don’t open. To makes sure that all bikes are in working condition, they are monitored by staff and issues are addressed within a 24-hour period.
When asked about privacy and cybersecurity, Cohen says his team of engineers is constantly improving the app. There were alarming reports of a security loophole where users’ details were being transferred to the server without encryption. Now Gobee.bike uses Stripe as its method of payment, where credit card information is encrypted with 256 bits before it reaches their server.
“We’re working on key things first, like safety on the app and the hardware. We’re also working on scaling the system. The biggest challenge now is that we have too many users,” he says. “It shows the demand is there and people are using the service. Now we’re making sure that everyone has a good experience when using it.”
In Hong Kong, there is more cycling infrastructure in the New Territories than, say, Hong Kong Island. Cohen proposes using tram lanes similar to the way bus lanes are shared with cyclists in Paris.
“Bicycles don’t take up a lot of space, so the Hong Kong government should see the demand and figure out how to arrange that everyone can use it. Doing that, it can also reduce congestion and pollution,” he says.
Gobee.bike recently received a US$9 million investment to expand its platform in Europe, North America and elsewhere in Asia where teams have already been set up.
In Hong Kong, more bikes are being added in the coming weeks. Cohen is in discussion with the government regarding the use of biking infrastructure, creating new cycle paths, and examining those that are underused.
Six months after launching Gobee.bike, the company has grown to 45 employees, with more to be hired in the near future.
Cohen has had a lot of experience launching start-ups but still faces familiar issues.
“When you come up with an idea here, people will say it’s not going to work; it’s bound to fail; that you shouldn’t do it; and that you cannot find money,” he says. “At first, it can be discouraging. Even friends are going to say, ‘it’s not going to work.’ As you go ahead, people see it. And then they change their tune. Now they’re asking me if they can invest. I saw that happen to me many times. It’s about getting used to it.”
(Photo: Lau Wai)
This article appeared in the Classified Post print edition as On your bike.
