Carpool app buys Odd-Even website from 13-year-old founder

Carpool app Orahi on Tuesday completed acquisition of Odd-Even.com, a website 13-year-old Akshat Mittal had set up to find partners for commuting during the odd-even period.

"We have entered a long-term partnership with Mittal and inducted him on our advisory board as a domain expert," the company said in a statement here.

The Delhi government conducted the first odd-even vehicle restriction experiment January 1-15 to curb air pollution and plans to re-introduce April 15-30 after seeking public opinion and assessing feedback from its citizens.

Post-acquisition, Orahi's combined user base will be a whopping 70,000, including 30,000 registered with Mittal's Odd-Even platform.

Orahi, which did not disclose the cost of acquiring the website, said: "The acquisition offers users more carpooling options with 10 people travelling every minute in 10 directions and enables car owners and commuters to curtail their waiting time."

Elaborating, Orahi founder Arun Bhati said every user addition would add to more carpool options for the community and help in curbing traffic and air pollution across the city.

Mittal said: "The partnership will make an easy interface for commuters, as they will have a single platform with a huge database to select from. I will add value to Orahi in both technical and domain aspects."

Odd-Even.com users will also be able to access Orahi.com and carpool instantly.

"Our offers like 'Every second ride free' and '1 litre of free petrol for car owners everyday' will be extended to Odd-Even users," Bhati added.

Orahi also plans to soon organise a live Twitter session for new users to connect directly with its founders.

As a home-office-home and corporate carpool platform, Orahi offers a convenient, safe and affordable alternative to any other mode of public transport in the national capital region (NCR).

The Gurgaon-based carpooling app start-up, co-founded by Bhati and Sameer Khanna in March 2013, provides car owners flexibility for driving their vehicles.

Orahi, which raised Rs.3.5 crore from Indian Angel Network in January to invest in app-building, marketing and team expansion, plans to enter Bengaluru and Mumbai later this year.