Thursday, November 21

Ola joins global alliance to take on Uber

India’s largest cab aggregator Ola has joined international peers Didi Kuaidi, Lyft and GrabTaxi to form an alliance against San-Francisco-based Uber.

The global alliance enables international travelers to avail cab-hailing services of the four companies through the same app they use in their home country.

The partnership would provide ride-sharing coverage for India, China, Southeast Asia and the US, Ola said in a press statement.

The arrangement is an extension of an ongoing pact between US-based Lyft and Chinese cab aggregator Didi Kuaidi.

Didi Kuaidi had recently participated in a $500 million fund raising round at Ola.

Ola, Didi Kuaidi, Lyft and GrabTaxi have collectively raised about $7 billion in external funding.

The taxi-hailing business in India is heating up as both Ola and Uber Technologies Inc are investing heavily to entrench themselves in the country. In July, Uber India president Amit Jain said the company would invest $1 billion in India over nine months for expansion.

This story originally appeared on VCCircle.