Homegrown firm Anywheel gets approval to expand fleet size to 35K shared bicycles in S’pore

Singapore’s Land Transport Authority has allowed homegrown bike-sharing company Anywheel to add another 5,000 units to its fleet, expanding its total fleet size to 35,000 shared bicycles.

The decision comes on heels of Anywheel’s robust business growth in recent years—as of February 2024, the bike-sharing firm boasts over 1.3 million users, seeing month-on-month growth in ridership for the past four years.

The addition of these 5,000 units extends Anywheel’s lead as Singapore’s largest bike-sharing company in terms of fleet size, years after the first wave’s dominant players fizzled.

At its peak, nine bike-sharing companies were operating in Singapore, offering a total of more than 200,000 shared bicycles, but the bike-sharing landscape quickly saw a downturn with indiscriminate parking and vandalism becoming rampant.

It was equally as messy on the operators’ end—several companies made some dramatic exits, from bankruptcies to abandoned operations. 

Apart from Anywheel, the only other bike-sharing operator active in the Singapore market today is Alibaba-backed HelloRide, with a fleet size of 10,000 shared bicycles.

Anywheel has been net profitable from February 2023

Founded in 2017 by Htay Aung, Anywheel provides first-mile and last-mile transportation options. In an interview with Tech in Asia back in February, Aung said that the company has been “net profitable since February 2023”.

He added that the company has been bootstrapped from the start, allowing it to “grow organically”. However, the firm plans to fundraise in the middle of this year to help with its expansion plans.

Currently, Anywheel operates in Singapore and select cities in Thailand, but by Q3 2024, it aims to launch in a third Southeast Asian country, while also assessing a fourth market outside the region.

Its next bike roll out will feature new user-centric features, including smart locks, a response to customer worries about theft risks. With the smart lock, users can lock and unlock bikes through the Anywheel app, eliminating the need for manual locks.

Apart from its bike-sharing services, where it charges S$1 for a 30-minute ride, the firm also generates revenue from advertising—a major revenue source for overseas bike-sharing players. Anywheel’s ad rates range from S$15 to S$100 per bike per month.

Featured Image Credit: Anywheel