Chapter 95: Mobike Financing
On 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?”
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.”
“You’ve done so much to Discover more novels on NovelHub - your gateway to endless stories. 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.