We knew they had money… quite a lot. Mobike, Ofo and friends have raised billions of dollars in 2017:

But Spin climbed another step, by adding political power to its arsenal. In order to strengthen for the ongoing territory war between all actors of dockless bike-sharing, Spin confirmed on november 7th three big names as part of their Advisory board:

• Martin O’Malley, former Maryland governor
• Gabe Klein, former transportation chief in D.C. and Chicago
• Molly Turner, former Airbnb public policy director, and urban innovation professor at the University of California at Berkeley

“We welcome the vision and guidance of these three outstanding new board members, as Spin sharpens its focus on the development of smart cities systems worldwide,” said Spin CEO Derrick Ko. “Each brings a rare blend of expertise in public affairs, tech policy and urban mobility that will strengthen our goal to bring affordable, equitable and eco-friendly dockless bikeshare to all urban centers.” Who’s got the power?

We might now see a race to recruit politicians and influencers in the mobility/urbanism field: the companies development will now depend more and more on relationships between authorities and bike-share providers, to address the future regulation and licensing rules that are popping up everywhere. Who will do the next big move?