Cements leadership in the personal transportation space
TaxiForSure to continue as an independent entity; Arvind Singhal to lead as new CEO with leadership team intact
March 2, 2015: Furthering its mission to revolutionize personal transportation in the country, Ola (formerly Olacabs), India’s leading mobile app for personal transportation announced that it has acquired TaxiForSure, India’s second largest cab aggregator, for $200 mn in a cash and equity deal. With this deal, Ola, which is already the market leader in the personal transportation space with over 1-lakhvehicles on its platform, has further deepened its footprint with TaxiForSure’s operator led model.
Ola and TaxiForSure will continue to operate as separate entities. The leadership and all of the 1700 employees shall continue to work with TaxiForSure, with Arvind Singhal (currently COO) being appointed the CEO. Aprameya Radhakrishna and Raghunandan G, the founders of TaxiForSure, will contribute in an advisory role for a certain period. TaxiForSure is currently in 47 cities with over 15,000 vehicles registered on its platform.
There is significant complimentary value that this acquisition adds both on the supply and demand side for Ola and TaxiForSure. TaxiForSure follows a different model of supply and distribution by working with cab operators compared to Ola’s model of working with driver-entrepreneurs. TaxiForSure has also focused heavily on the economy segment of cab consumers with innovative offerings like Tata Nanos as part of their fleet and Rs 49 as base fares in the past. For customers, drivers and operators on the TaxiForSure platform, nothing will change. Customers can continue to book a cab through the app and call centre and drivers will continue to get access to customers on TaxiForSure’s technology platform as always.
Bhavish Aggarwal, Co-founder and CEO, Ola said, “Ola and TaxiForSure share the same vision of revolutionising urban mobility. TaxiForSure has a great team and they have built a very exciting business in a short time. There’s a lot of complementary value in the strategy TaxiForSure has followed. I’m very excited to welcome the TaxiForSure team onboard and look forward to working with them towards realising our common vision.”
Raghunandan G, Co-founder and CEO, TaxiForSure said, “TaxiForSure coming together with Ola will provide us with more opportunity than ever, to do what we do best. Post this acquisition; the combined entity will be strong enough and better capitalized to offer the best value to all our stakeholders, including our customers. This development ensures that industry attractiveness is preserved and the combined entity can race ahead and continue to create unprecedented value for all stakeholders.”
Ola has been funded by Tiger Global, Matrix Partners, Sequoia Capital, Steadview Capital and most recently, Softbank over its four rounds of fund-raising. Investors in TaxiForSure are Accel Partners, Bessemer Venture Partners and Helion Venture Partners. With this acquisition, investors in TaxiForSure will roll over their stock into Ola.
Ola, founded in Jan 2011 by IIT Bombay alumni Bhavish Aggarwal and Ankit Bhati is India’s leading mobile application for personal transportation, integrating city transportation for customers and drivers onto a technology platform. This ensures convenient, transparent and quick service fulfillment for both customers and drivers. Ola’s proprietary mobile application for drivers across commercial transport vehicles helps them connect with customers looking for a safe and reliable ride. Customers can access Ola through their mobile application for Android, iOS and Windows. Ola is also the most popular mobile app for cab/ auto booking on the Android and iOS stores currently. Customers can book from over 1,00,000 vehicles across 67 cities. Using the Ola app, commuters can also book autos in Bangalore, Delhi, Chennai, Pune, Ahmedabad, Hyderabad and Kaali-Peeli taxis in Mumbai.
TaxiForSure started its operations in Bangalore in June 2011 with the vision to make commute convenient in India. Today it is present across 47 cities in India, with a fleet size of over 15,000 drivers clocking over 5 million rides. A technology-based platform brings together existing vehicles and customers who need a ride. This strategic approach along with cutting-edge technology ensures that TaxiForSure customers get an accessible, safe, and economical ride for sure! TaxiForSure enables customers with a seamless booking experience across mobile apps, website, and call centre. App users can book a ride using the app on Android, Firefox OS, iOS, and Windows phones in less than 15 seconds.
