By Saisumit
With revenues surging and funding of about $3.7 billion being raised, Ola plans to expand beyond the subcontinent. As per the reports of Business Standard, the taxi-hailing service is looking forward to setting up its operations in Australia and New Zealand. The move comes at a point when its arch-nemesis Uber is struggling to maintain its presence in the global market.
Didi Chuxing, who invested around $25 million in Ola last year, also plans to expand its global territories with the help of this move. The Chinese cab aggregator firm has already pushed Uber out of the Chinese market in 2016 and is now collaborating with Ola to do the same in other countries.
Climbing the ladder towards success
Ola, which has already started setting up operations in Bangladesh and Sri Lanka, seems to be doing reasonably well with backing from investment giants like Tiger Global, Softbank group, Falcon Edge Capital, Didi Chuxing, Tencent Holdings and Tekne Capital. Even on the basis of business metrics, the Indian ride-hailing service is holding strong, as per a valuation report filed with the Ministry of Corporate Affairs, compiled by the chartered accountancy firm Jain Ambavat and Associates. Ola is expected to become profitable during the fiscal year 2019 (FY19), with a net profit of $180.7 million (INR 1,170 crore) which may further grow to $992 million (INR 6,423.33 Cr) by FY 2020.
Cut-throat competition
In Australia, Ola will have to face the heat from Uber and a local startup called GoCatch. Uber, which already has a well-established market, started its operations in 2012 and is the most dominant player in the Australian market till date. Apart from Uber, it will also face stiff competition from GoCar, a taxi service launched by the local ride-booking app called GoCatch. Though launched last year only, it has become the biggest competitor of Uber in Australia and will definitely be a tough nut to crack for Ola too.
As far as New Zealand is concerned, it will again have to stand against the global ride-sharing service Uber, which started its operations three years ago in 2014. Apart from Uber, it will be in the race with other taxi-booking start-ups like Cabchooze, Greencabs and, Zoomy.
Ola targeting the European markets
With an investment of around $1.1 billion confirmed from Tencent Holding last year and a total raised capital of $3.9 billion accompanied by multiple lawsuits and possible London ban for Uber, the India based start-up is also eyeing the European market. As per a report by Business Standard, Ola founders, namely Bhavish Aggarwal and Ankit Bhati, even met London Mayor Sadiq Khan last December to discuss the same. Though any official commitments are yet to be announced, the chances are slim owing to heavy investment costs and a saturated market currently being dominated by Uber.
Though competition seems tough, the relatively low investment cost and largely untapped markets of Australia and New Zealand make it a different game altogether.
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