16WiFi

About 16WiFi

16WiFi, operating under the legal name Beijing E-road Hotspot Information Technology Co., Ltd., was a Beijing-based company founded in 2011. The company was established by Qiu Chaomin, who also served as its CEO, and was a joint effort between computer goods manufacturer Colorful Group, telecommunications equipment maker Huawei, and Beijing Mobile, a subsidiary of China Mobile. Qiu Chaomin, with a background in the traditional advertising industry through his company Seven Color Group, ventured into the mobile internet space with 16WiFi to build a new media platform.

The company focused on providing free Wi-Fi services to users on public transportation systems, including buses and subways, across major Chinese cities like Beijing, Shanghai, and Nanjing. Its core product consisted of a hardware dongle installed on buses that captured 3G and 4G signals from telecom operators and converted them into a Wi-Fi hotspot. Passengers could then access the internet by logging in through 16WiFi's mobile application. The business model was centered on offering free internet access to a large user base and then generating revenue through back-end services. The primary source of income was expected to be from advertising, with plans to expand into other areas such as content distribution, online gaming, O2O (online-to-offline) services, and big data analytics.

16WiFi secured significant funding to support its expansion. In June 2015, it raised over $16.1 million in a Series A round led by Baidu, with participation from United Electronics. This was followed by a Series B funding round in June 2016, where the company raised approximately $45.5 million. By mid-2015, the company had already installed its service on thousands of buses and some underground transport systems, with plans to expand further. As of June 2015, it had deployed over 30,000 Wi-Fi hotspots. Despite its ambitious plans and substantial funding, the company eventually ceased operations and is now considered deadpooled.