Indian cab aggregator app Ola will be entering Australia soon and hopes to bring a “refreshing change” to the country’s ride-sharing ecosystem, it announced on Jan. 30. This will be the Bengaluru-based firm’s first international venture.
Ola will enter Australia in early 2018 and has started inviting private hire vehicle owners in Sydney, Melbourne, and Perth to learn more about driving and registering with the company.
“We are very excited about launching Ola in Australia and see immense potential for the ride-sharing ecosystem which embraces new technology and innovation,” said Ola co-founder and CEO Bhavish Aggarwal. He added: “With a strong focus on driver-partners and the community at large, we aim to create a high-quality and affordable travel experience for citizens and look forward to contributing to a healthy mobility ecosystem in Australia.”
Ola, founded in 2011, claims to have more than 125 million users in India and more than 1 million driver-partners across over 110 cities. It also claims to serve a billion rides annually.
“Ola’s rapid growth and expansion have been made possible by taking a driver-partner focused approach to ride-sharing – investing in its partners to arm them with the necessary tools, skills, and incentives to offer best-in-class transport experiences. Ola is also recognized for its collaboration with governments and communities to solve local transport issues in innovative and meaningful ways,” the company said in a statement.
The company will face its biggest competitor in India — Uber — in Australia as well. Ola still requires regulatory approval to start operations in Australia. It will also have a rival in European taxi-hailing app Taxify, which started operations last year in Melbourne and expanded to Sydney in January 2018.
Japan’s Softbank is a major investor in both Ola and Uber. It recently acquired 20 per cent stake in Uber and told the San Francisco-based to focus on its core markets — the United States, Europe, Latin America, and Australia.
Ola had raised $2 billion from various investors, including Softbank, which is also the largest investor in the company, in October 2017. With Softbank injecting fresh investment into Uber, a soft merger between Uber and Ola is speculated but nothing is confirmed.