Chinese taxi-hailing service invests in Ola to take on Uber

China’s largest taxi-hailing service Didi Kuaidi on Monday announced an undisclosed investment in India’s Ola, as it looks to challenge Uber at a global level.

The Chinese company had earlier inked deals with Southeast Asia’s Grab Taxi and US-based Lyft.

It should be noted that all companies have Japan’s SoftBank as a common investor, including Ola.

“Didi Kuaidi believes both India and China are rapidly developing countries with enormous market potentials,” the company said in a statement.

“Didi Kuaidi looks to engage local industry champions like Ola to share technology and best practices in product development and operational expertise – all honed from deep market data-driven operations.”

The news comes ahead of Ola’s plans to raise $500 million funding round at a valuation of $5 billion.

The capital will help Ola continue its expansion in India where it claims to have 80 per cent market share. Ola had recently announced it would invest $75 million in a leasing programme through which it plans to add 10,000 additional drivers to its network who might not want to own their own vehicles.

In the latest funding round, Didi Kuaidi will join Ola’s existing investors such as Falcon Edge, GIC, Tiger Global Management, and SoftBank. As Ola looks to take on Uber, the firm will invest more money outside its core taxi-hailing service.

The company has said it is looking to introduce motorcycle taxis, a shuttle service and ride-sharing services.