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Lyft acquires Cartop Advertising Startup Halo Cars

24Feb By PriyankaNo Comments

ACQUISITION

Lyft acquires Cartop Advertising Startup Halo Cars

Lyft Inc has bought U.S.-based startup Halo Cars, which allows drivers to make money through digital advertisements displayed on top of their vehicles. The deal, first reported by Axios, was confirmed by the ride-hailing company on Friday. Lyft did not comment on the financing of the deal. Halo Cars was founded in 2018 and has operations in U.S. markets such as New York and Chicago. Lyft and larger rival Uber Technologies Inc, both based in San Francisco, are pursuing different roads in search of profitability, with Uber pouring money into side businesses which have so far lost money and Lyft focusing solely on moving people around. With operations only in the United States and some Canadian cities, Lyft said earlier this month its active rider customer base in the fourth quar...

13Aug By PriyankaNo Comments

ACQUISITION

Ola Acqui-hires AI Startup Pikup.ai

Cab aggregator Ola acqui-hiring' Pikup.ai, an artificial intelligence (AI) startup based out of Bengaluru. Acqui-hiring is a term for acquisition plus hiring. As part of the deal, the team at pikup.ai will join Ola, the company said in a statement. Ola announced earlier this year its intent to set up an advanced technology centre in the San Francisco Bay area in the US, to focus on developing next-generation technologies in mobility like Electric, Connected and Autonomous Vehicles. "By bringing deep domain expertise to Ola, this acquihire will also deliver innovations that continue to improve safety and transform customer experience," Ola said. Pikup.ai was co-founded by Inder Singh and Ritwik Saikia, which uses autonomous technologies like AI, computer vision and sensor fusio...

Uber Posted Huge $5 Billion Loss, Share down 6 Percent

9Aug By AdityaNo Comments

News

Uber Posted Huge $5 Billion Loss, Share down 6 Percent

Cab aggregator service Uber posted a record $5.2 billion loss in the second quarter report, as growth in its core ride-hailing service got slow. After the announcement of Second-quarter results, Uber shares down 6%. Uber’s second-quarter net loss, widening from a loss of $878 million a year earlier, included $3.9 billion of stock-based compensation expenses related to its IPO earlier this year and nearly $300 million in “driver appreciation” related to the stock sale. The second-quarter report caught Uber investors off guard because Uber’s rival Lyft had raised revenue expectations and described an easing price war. “Our platform strategy continues to deliver strong results, with trips up 35% and Gross Bookings up 37% in constant currency, compared to the second quarter of ...

Uber partners IOC to offer discounts on fuel for driver-partners

31May By Press Trust of IndiaNo Comments

INDIA

Uber partners IOC to offer discounts on fuel for driver-partners

NEW DELHI: Uber Thursday said it has partnered Indian Oil Corporation Ltd (IOCL) to offer special benefits, including discount on fuel, to the ride-hailing company's driver-partners in India. In a statement, Uber said over 12,000 driver-partners have already registered for this benefit. "The agreement with IOCL will offer delivery partners discounts on petrol, diesel and CNG in IOCL petrol pumps across India. This initiative is a part of Uber's UberCARE programme for driver partners," the statement added. Vigyan Kumar, executive director (retail sales), IOCL, said, "IOCL has always been striving to add to the fuelling experience of customers coming to its retail outlet". "...through our association with UBER, we would be giving one more reason for a UBER driver-partner to...

Uber buys rival Careem in $3.1 billion deal to dominate ride-hailing in Middle East

26Mar By reutersNo Comments

ACQUISITION, MIDDLE EAST

Uber buys rival Careem in $3.1 billion deal to dominate ride-hailing in Middle East

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Global ride-hailing firm Uber will spend $3.1 billion to acquire Middle East rival Careem, buying dominance in a competitive region ahead of a hotly anticipated initial public offering. Uber said it would pay $1.4 billion in cash and $1.7 billion in convertible notes in a deal that gives it full ownership of Careem. The long-expected agreement ends more than nine months of start-and-stop negotiations between the two companies and hands Uber a much-needed victory after a series of overseas divestments. The notes will be convertible into Uber shares at a price equal to $55 apiece, Uber said, marking about a nearly 13 percent increase over Uber’s share price in its last financing round, led by SoftBank Group Corp more than a year ago. The acquisition makes...

Ola, Hyundai in talks for $300 million fund infusion

9Mar By Press Trust of IndiaNo Comments

News

Ola, Hyundai in talks for $300 million fund infusion

NEW DELHI: Ola is in talks with Hyundai Motor Company for investing about USD 300 million in the cab-hailing platform, according to sources. The discussions are at an advanced stage and a deal could be closed in the next few weeks, sources said. If the deal goes through, it would be Hyundai's second investment in the Indian startup ecosystem. Previously, it had led a ₹100-crore funding round in car rental startup Revv. Ola did not respond to an e-mailed query on the development. A Hyundai Motors India spokesperson said the company is "open to cooperation with various potential partners but it is our policy not to comment on market speculation and rumours". The fresh funding will give the Bengaluru-based company more ammunition to compete with rival Uber in ...

13Nov By Gauri SinghNo Comments

BUSINESS

Cab Aggregator Lyft to Launch its Loyalty Program in the US

San Francisco based cab aggregator Lyft has planned to launch a new loyalty program for riders which will be known as Lyft Rewards. The particular program will start rolling out next month to select riders across the U.S. It will let riders earn points for each dollar spent, which can then be used for upgrades to nicer cars or savings on future rides, among other things. Along with this, the ride-hailing company caters to its regular riders in several ways, including through its recently launched subscription service. It is a program that rewards business users, and its partnership with Delta that allows riders to earn Delta airline miles with Lyft. The upcoming reward program will be aiming everyday riders, in order better retain their business as a part of Lyft’s larger battle wit...

Ola & Uber Fares Rose up by 15% in Last One Year

25Oct By Gauri SinghNo Comments

News

Ola & Uber Fares Rose up by 15% in Last One Year

With the increasing demand of Ola and Uber these days, an average ride cost on Ola and Uber is up by 15% over the last one year. This has been presented as per estimates by research & advisory firm RedSeer. The company said this comes on top of a 10% increase in 2017. However, the figures that have been stated are a national average, and the actual changes may be different for different cities. The report did not provide the city-wise figures as Bengaluru users have reported significantly higher increases. According to the reports, the average cost per ride on these cab-hailing apps has risen to Rs 220, compared to around Rs 190 last year. Also, the incentives for drivers, which was used for several years to attract drivers to meet rising demand, saw a drop of over 30% in the las...

Cab Aggregator Grab Ties up With MasterCard to Offer Virtual Debit Cards

25Oct By Gauri SinghNo Comments

BUSINESS

Cab Aggregator Grab Ties up With MasterCard to Offer Virtual Debit Cards

Ride hailing company Grab has reportedly has announced its plans to introduce virtual pre-paid debit in collaboration with Mastercard. This move is the biggest digital payment push in Southeast Asia to date. The particular deal will witness its Grab Pay business offer Grab’s 110 million registered users the option to use a virtual Mastercard to make payments both online and in-person. With this partnership, the users will be able to use physical Grab Pay cards or virtual ones, the latter being a card number, expiry date, and other details that are held within the Grab app. “We see Grab Pay as a glue that goes across all the products we offer, and rewards our users for using them,” Reuben Lai, senior managing director at Grab Financial said. “Grab Pay users spend two times more than ...

After UK and Australia, Ola is all set to Enter New Zealand

18Sep By Gauri SinghNo Comments

BUSINESS

After UK and Australia, Ola is all set to Enter New Zealand

The homegrown cab aggregator Ola has been on an expansion spree lately and is expanding itself in various international regions including UK and Australia. Soon after this, the company announced its plans to enter the New Zealand market starting with Auckland, Christchurch and Wellington. However, the date of launch has not been mentioned as of now. With this announcement, New Zealand becomes the third international market that Ola will enter into this year after rolling out its services in Australia in February and UK in August. For this purpose, the company has appointed Brian Dewil as Country Manager for New Zealand. “I’m excited to build the local team and business in New Zealand and provide a healthy contribution to the nation’s local mobility infrastructure”, said Brian Dewil, Co...

Cab Aggregator Ola Starts Earning From Each Ride

16Jul By Gauri SinghNo Comments

News

Cab Aggregator Ola Starts Earning From Each Ride

In the financial year 2016-2017, the cab aggregator Ola showed losses of around Rs 4,897 crore. In the last year, it saw losses of over Rs 2,313 crore. But now, the company is finally gearing up in terms of growth and profitability. It has been reported that the cab company has started earning on every cab ride that it offers. This amount is calculated after taking into account other expenses including driver incentives and customer discounts. And this is how the company is overlooking considerable targets for profitability. "We will continue to focus on profitable and sustainable growth, and building a growing profitable business, the first in Indian internet," said Ola CEO Bhavish Aggarwal. With this, Ola will be earning profits on every ride that Ola complet...

Karnataka Government Issues Violation Notice To Uber,Ola

4Jun By Lavina TolaniNo Comments

News

Karnataka Government Issues Violation Notice To Uber,Ola

A new tussle between Karnataka government and major cab aggregators Ola and Uber have come into play, where the state government has issued a notice to the ride-hailing companies for violating against rules for charging the time-based fare. As per new traffic rules stated under Rule 11(a) of the Karnataka On-demand Transportation Technology Aggregators, cab companies cannot charge on the basis of time and hence the notice has been issued to the companies seeking an explanation for their policy of charging based on an average of Rs 1 per minute. According to a statement cited by sources, "Licence holders have to collect hire charges from passengers as per fares fixed by the government. But companies are violating the rules. Appropriate action will be initiated against the errant cabs....