Ola acquires TaxiForSure for $200 mn

TaxiForSure to continue as an independent entity; Arvind Singhal to lead as the new CEO.

Ola (formerly Olacabs), the mobile app for personal transportation, has acquired TaxiForSure, a cab aggregator, for $200 mn in a cash and equity deal. With this deal, Ola, currently operating with over one lakh vehicles 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 will 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 currently works in 47 cities with over 15,000 vehicles registered on its platform.

TaxiForSure follows a different model of supply and distribution by working with cab operators, as against Ola's model of working with driver entrepreneurs.

TaxiForSure has also focussed heavily on the economy segment of cab consumers with innovative offerings like Tata Nanos as part of its fleet and Rs 49 as base fare 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, says, "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 on board and look forward to working with them towards realising our common vision."

Raghunandan G, co-founder and CEO, TaxiForSure, states, "Post this acquisition, the combined entity will be strong enough and better capitalised 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 is funded by Tiger Global, Matrix Partners, Sequoia Capital, Steadview Capital and, most recently, Softbank, over its four rounds of fundraising. Investors in TaxiForSure are Accel Partners, Bessemer Venture Partners and Helion Venture Partners. With this acquisition, these investors will roll over their stock into Ola.

Ola, founded in Jan 2011 by IIT-Bombay alumni Bhavish Aggarwal and Ankit Bhati, is a mobile application for personal transportation available across Android, iOS and Windows. Customers can book from over 1,00,000 vehicles across 67 cities. It also offers auto booking facility in Bengaluru, Delhi, Chennai, Pune, Ahmedabad, Hyderabad, and Kaali-Peeli taxis in Mumbai.

TaxiForSure started its operations in Bengaluru 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.