Chapter 95: Mobike Financing

Words : 1552 Updated : Sep 12th, 2025

Chapter 95: Mobike FinancingOn Friday, Lu Liang was invited to the Shangri-La Hotel to attend Mobike's Series A financing reception. Although the valuation was only $10 million, the event was staged as though it were a billion-dollar deal. As soon as he walked in, Lu Liang saw Li Bing talking with Shen Peng and faintly overheard them discussing the new energy vehicle (NEV) industry. He was curious but didn’t approach to interrupt their conversation. Instead, he casually picked up Mobike’s financing proposal from the table and flipped through it. After a while, Li Bing finished his discussion with Shen Peng and walked over to Lu Liang with a smile. “Mr. Lu, I’ve heard so much about you.” Although Lu Liang wasn’t officially invited by him, Li Bing, as one of the hosts, felt it was appropriate to greet him. Moreover, he was curious to see the man who had recently stirred up waves in the financial world. “Mr. Li, you flatter me. That gentleman just now was Mr. Shen Peng from Sequoia Capital, wasn’t it?” Lu Liang responded with a smile, but without excessive enthusiasm. Crossing the million-yuan mark in wealth is a milestone, and hitting a billion is an even bigger one. However, the gap between one billion and ten billion isn’t as wide as people might imagine. After all, anyone worth over a billion has already completed their capital accumulation phase—and Lu Liang had the advantage of holding cash on hand. Li Bing smiled. “We were just discussing the domestic new energy industry. Is that a field you’re interested in?” “I’ve heard that Magic City plans to introduce Tesla to accelerate the development of the domestic NEV sector.” “You’re quite well-informed, Mr. Lu,” Li Bing said, surprised. The news about Magic City introducing Tesla was a niche piece of insider information. Only someone closely following the industry would know about it. Lu Liang chuckled. “A friend mentioned it during a conversation, along with some updates about your company, NIO.” “Mr. Lu, what’s your perspective on this industry?” Li Bing asked, hoping to gain some unique insights from a financial professional like Lu Liang. Lu Liang spoke softly, “Low-carbon initiatives, environmental protection, and promoting new energy development can help China achieve carbon neutrality sooner.” Li Bing was taken aback. “Mr. Lu, do you really believe new energy is more environmentally friendly?” “Mr. Li, do you think our opinions matter? As long as it sounds environmentally friendly, that’s all that counts.” Lu Liang smiled. New energy wasn’t as green as people claimed, but to do business, you must first champion the cause. Even the Americans, for example, wouldn’t start a war without holding up a bottle of washing powder and claiming it’s a deadly chemical weapon. Li Bing laughed as well and changed the topic. “Mr. Lu, what brings you here today? Are you interested in Mobike’s financing?” It was apparent to him that Lu Liang had been dodging the deeper questions, so he didn’t press further. “I am somewhat interested, though I’m wondering if I can acquire a larger stake,” Lu Liang replied, glancing toward Shen Peng, who seemed to recognize him and raised his glass in greeting. Lu Liang responded with a smile and raised his own glass. ????Ã????ȯᛒƐs Li Bing lowered his voice. “Co-investing is possible, but becoming the lead investor is unlikely.” He paused and then added, “Mr. Lu, don’t get me wrong. It’s because Sequoia is willing to sign binding legal agreements with Mobike.” Li Bing knew that Lu Liang was invited by Hu Weiwei. He also knew that Lu Liang had invested in OFO and held a 20% stake. So he brought in Shen Peng from Sequoia Capital and promised that Sequoia would have lead-investor rights before Mobike’s IPO—but only if Sequoia did not invest in OFO. Risk hedging was every venture capitalist’s favorite strategy: investing in both the number-one and number-two players in a market ensures a win regardless of who comes out on top. While this pleased the VCs, it didn’t necessarily sit well with companies. Unlike OFO, which was a scrappy startup, Mobike had Li Bing backing it. He had the bargaining power to force investors to choose sides. Thus, he made it clear to Sequoia that if they wanted to lead this round—or any future rounds—they could only invest in Mobike and no other bike-sharing companies. Lu Liang frowned slightly and looked toward Hu Weiwei, who lowered her head in shame, avoiding eye contact. Hu Weiwei had only recently learned about Sequoia’s willingness to sign the binding agreements, which granted them lead-investor rights in subsequent rounds. Although she wanted to bring Lu Liang on board to increase her voice within the company, Sequoia’s single-minded commitment to Mobike left her with no grounds to refuse. After all, Sequoia’s exclusive focus on Mobike was beneficial in both the short and long term. Her power struggle with Li Bing shouldn’t come at the expense of the company’s future. All she could do was apologize to Lu Liang. Li Bing spoke softly, “Mr. Lu, don’t blame Ms. Hu. She’s just young and inexperienced. Let me apologize on her behalf.” “You’re too kind, Mr. Li. I just have one question.” “Go ahead, Mr. Lu.” seaʀᴄh thё novёlF~ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. “You’ve done so much to support Mobike. Why not directly run it yourself?” Lu Liang was puzzled. If he had known about Li Bing’s strong desire for control, he wouldn’t have gotten involved in the Hu-Li power struggle. “Human energy has its limits. While I’m optimistic about bike-sharing, the market is ultimately too small,” Li Bing said seriously. “Mr. Lu, new energy vehicles are the future.” To him, Mobike, which Hu Weiwei took so much pride in, was merely a stepping stone in his strategy for the NEV market. He was highly optimistic about the NEV sector, but the road ahead was uncertain and fraught with challenges. Even with his and Bitauto’s efforts, he wasn’t sure they could see it through to the end. Li Bing’s strong sense of control over Mobike stemmed from his desire to use its financing round to network with major capital players and pave the way for NIO’s growth. “Upgrading the industry, reducing dependence on a single energy source, and engaging with Middle Eastern geopolitics—this aligns with national policy. The NEV industry has enormous potential,” he said. Tianxing Capital might lack strength now, but who didn’t know that Lu Liang had risen to prominence in just six months? In another year or two, he could very well become a major figure himself. This made him one of the targets Li Bing wanted to recruit. Lu Liang fell into deep thought, and Li Bing seized the moment. “Mr. Lu, new and old forces have already entered the fray. Up north, there’s Li Xiang from Autohome. In the south, He Xiaopeng from GAC. Then there’s Jia Yueting from LeTV, not to mention BYD’s Wang Chuanfu, who has been developing new energy all along. With so much focus on this sector, even if it’s not the future, it’ll become the new trend.” After considering this, Lu Liang smiled. “Mr. Li, today is Mobike’s financing reception. Let’s find another time to discuss this in detail.” Li Bing, Li Xiang, He Xiaopeng—one had Bitauto, another Autohome, and the last the backing of the BAIC team. Lu Liang planned to replicate his Panda TV strategy. For an outsider entering the field, paying some “tuition” and making connections was inevitable. “Of course, Mr. Lu. Please make yourself at home. I see a friend has arrived, so I’ll go greet them,” Li Bing replied. Lu Liang nodded and followed Li Bing’s gaze, spotting Lei Jun. Clearly, a $10 million valuation financing wouldn’t interest someone like him; he was likely there at Li Bing’s invitation to lend Mobike some star power. “Calling him ‘Lei Buxi’ seems inappropriate. He should be ‘Lei Buffet,’” Lu Liang joked to himself as he found a quiet corner to rest. Watching Lei Jun surrounded by admirers, he realized Lei Jun’s reputation in venture capital was no less impressive than Zhu Hu’s or Shen Peng’s. Before founding Xiaomi, Lei Jun had already been a renowned angel investor in China. As time passed, more industry heavyweights arrived. Eventually, Hu Weiwei took the stage to present the financing proposal and announce the allocation of shares. Lu Liang waved over Wen Chao and whispered, “Go subscribe. Get as many shares as you can.” Through this event, he had achieved his goals of meeting Li Bing and understanding his intentions. The allocation of Mobike shares didn’t matter much to him. He couldn’t lead the round anyway, so whether he got any or not was inconsequential. Lu Liang didn’t dwell on it, but Hu Weiwei and Li Bing saw things differently. They still allocated him 3% of the shares. Ultimately, Sequoia led with a 5% stake, followed by Tianxing Capital with 3%, and Morninglight and Jingfeng each holding 1%. Lei Jun, meanwhile, was purely there to make an appearance and lend support. After showing his face, he left shortly thereafter.

Chapter 95: Mobike Financing

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