How has Anywheel survived for therefore lengthy in Singapore?

These are the three key methods that allowed Anywheel to succeed in over 1,000,000 customers

In 2017, bike sharing felt like the way forward for city transport. Shared bicycles had been all over the place throughout Singapore, with main operators claiming tens of millions of customers on the peak of the increase.

At its peak, a complete of 9 bicycle-sharing corporations had been operational in Singapore, providing a complete of greater than 200,000 shared bicycles.

Nonetheless, Singapore is right down to solely two gamers right now—and of the 2, homegrown firm Anywheel has emerged as the most important participant right here. Since 2022, it has been steadily scaling up its presence and now operates round 35,000 bicycles nationwide, with over 1.3 million customers.

Anywheel survived when so many others faltered—these are the methods that allowed it to outlast the bike-sharing increase and bust.

1. Intentionally beginning small

Throughout Singapore’s bike-sharing heyday, Anywheel remained a comparatively small, bootstrapped participant. Whereas opponents like oBike, ofo, and Mobike aggressively expanded with billions in backing, Anywheel centered on sustainable progress, funded primarily via founder Htay Aung’s private community. 

“We imagine in sustainable progress as a substitute of explosive progress that’s more likely to lose steam and cash (in a brief period of time),” mentioned Htay in a 2021 interview with Vulcan Submit.

Different companies, then again, pursued fast enlargement methods that prioritised market share over sustainability. They flooded the streets with tens of 1000’s of bikes—relying not solely on large capital injections, but in addition on consumer deposits to fund progress. As an illustration, oBike required customers to put a S$49 deposit when signing up, refundable if the consumer selected to cease utilizing the service.

These deposits acted as working capital, permitting corporations to purchase extra bicycles and scale shortly. Whereas this method created fast visibility and adoption, it additionally magnified operational vulnerabilities. Bikes had been usually poorly maintained, vandalism and theft charges soared, and logistics prices ballooned.

When regulatory caps had been launched on fleet sizes and compliance necessities tightened, these corporations discovered themselves overextended and underprepared to satisfy new obligations. Confronted with these challenges, many left customers stranded: oBike’s collapse in 2018 noticed 1000’s of customers unable to get well tens of millions in deposits, creating public backlash and undermining belief.

In distinction, Anywheel’s measured method allowed it to outlive the crash that worn out so lots of its opponents. It maintained a smaller fleet and had no deposit necessities—as a substitute, it prices customers a low, pay-as-you-ride price, ranging from S$1 for a 30-minute trip. For frequent riders, Anywheel additionally affords versatile passes—7-day, 30-day, or 90-day choices.

2. Adapting to Singapore’s distinctive panorama

Singapore’s bike-sharing ecosystem is not like many different cities. With a dense, extremely regulated city setting, operational complexity is excessive. Bikes should be obtainable close to MRT stations, parks, and residential areas, whereas nonetheless complying with strict fleet caps and parking laws.

Anywheel has tackled this problem by leveraging synthetic intelligence. Partnering with French software program agency Qucit, the corporate makes use of predictive algorithms to forecast demand, optimise bike deployment, and prioritise upkeep.

This ensures bikes can be found the place and when customers want them most, whereas avoiding oversupply in low-demand areas. AI-driven operations have reportedly elevated journeys per bike per day by 75%, and the system gives real-time visibility for workers, flagging uncared for bikes and serving to them plan assortment schedules effectively.

In contrast, different operators struggled to navigate Singapore’s complicated panorama. After deploying tens of 1000’s of bikes throughout the island with out correct logistical programs, bikes had been usually deserted in inappropriate places, left damaged, or concentrated in areas of low demand.

Operational inefficiencies compounded regulatory strain, and these companies lacked the instruments to answer commuter patterns, climate, or upkeep wants.

3. Searching for new avenues to maximise income

One structural threat for Anywheel’s core enterprise is the climate. As an out of doors, short-distance mode of transport, bike-sharing utilization is extremely delicate to rain—when downpours hit, ridership drops.

In a metropolis like Singapore, the place rainfall might be intense and extended, this volatility poses a problem to sustaining constant, month-on-month progress. Between Dec 2023 and Jan 2024, higher-than-average rainfall disrupted commuting patterns and dampened ridership progress.

These concerns pushed Anywheel to search for weather-resistant income streams—main it to promoting.

For the previous few years, Anywheel has been experimenting with promoting placements on its bicycles. Whereas nonetheless nascent, the income stream gives a hedge towards fluctuations in ridership. Promoting charges begin from S$15 per bike per 30 days, relying on placement and marketing campaign length.

This mannequin has confirmed profitable elsewhere. In line with Htay, bike-sharing operators abroad have lengthy monetised their fleets via sponsorships and promoting. Citi Bike in New York Metropolis, for instance, secured a US$111 million, 10-year sponsorship cope with Citigroup, underscoring the dimensions of alternative past trip charges alone.

Thus far, Anywheel has secured shoppers together with OCBC Financial institution, NTUC, and the Singapore Police Power—a sign of rising confidence within the platform’s stability and credibility, whilst the corporate considers it as a nascent income stream.

At present, it stays centered on educating potential shoppers concerning the medium, highlighting the distinctive benefits of promoting on these bikes: not like adverts on automobiles, bicycles transfer at slower speeds and function nearer to pedestrian visitors, rising dwell time and visibility.

And in comparison with massive digital billboards, the medium can also be comparatively low-energy and eco-friendly, aligning with the sustainability narratives that many manufacturers are more and more looking for to affiliate with.

Anywheel has constructed a sustainable operation

These are simply a number of the key methods which have allowed Anywheel to outlive—and even thrive—the place many others faltered.

By intentionally scaling cautiously, avoiding dangerous deposit fashions, diversifying income via promoting, embracing AI-driven logistics, and adapting to Singapore’s distinctive city panorama, the corporate constructed a resilient, sustainable operation.

Over time, this measured method allowed Anywheel to steadily develop its presence, steadily turning into one of the outstanding gamers in Singapore’s bike-sharing scene right now.

• Learn different articles we’ve written on Singaporean companies right here.

Featured Picture Credit score: Anywheel