India taxi-booking app gets $210m round led by SoftBank

The capital will be used to build on the momentum that has seen Ola - formerly known as Olacabs - enter nine cities in the last two months, taking its overall presence to 19 urban centers. The company claims to be India's largest and fastest-growing taxi-booking app with over 33,000 cabs in its network.

"India has the third largest internet user base in the world, but a relatively small online market currently. This situation means India has, with better, faster and cheaper internet access, a big growth potential. With today's announcement SoftBank is contributing to the development of the infrastructure for the digital future of India," Nikesh Arora, CEO of SoftBank Internet and Media (SIMI), said in a statement.

SIMI is a recently-established division of SoftBank that focuses on internet investments. It is also the division behind SoftBank's participation in a $627 million round for Indian e-commerce marketplace Snapdeal.

Founded in January 2011, by two alumni from the Indian Institute of Technology in Mumbai - Bhavish Aggarwal and Ankit Bhati - Ola runs a platform through which customers can hire cabs that are either independently-owned or part of small rental outfits. Bookings are handled by a call center but half of Ola's business is now transacted via a mobile app that allows real-time tracking by customers. Drivers carry a GPS-enabled Android device that also helps with navigation and billing.

Ola received $5 million in Series A funding from Tiger Global in 2012. Last year, Matrix led a Series B round - with participation from Tiger Global - said to be worth around $20 million. The Series C came just over three months ago as Sequoia Capital and Steadview put in $41 million.

A number of players compete in India's online tax-booking space, notably global operator Uber Technologies, which launched in the country last year. Much like Meru, a taxi service set up by India Value Fund Advisors, Uber runs its own car fleets.

Ola and other industry participants prefer the asset-light approach of aggregating independent taxi operators. Several have VC funding. Taxiforsure.com has received backing from Accel Partners, Helion Venture Partners and Blume Ventures, while Inventus Capital Partners supports Savaari Car Rental.

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• Topics
• Venture
• Consumer
• Technology
• South Asia
• India
• SoftBank Capital
• TMT
• Consumer
• Venture
• Tiger Global Management
• Matrix Partners