In India, Ola escalates Uber war with $2b funding

Photo credit: Michael Coghlan.

Ola, India’s homegrown challenger to Uber, has pocketed US$1.1 billion in funding, it announced this afternoon. There’s more in the works, taking the total fresh input worth US$2 billion once the second part of the deal is sealed.

The first batch of the investment was led by Tencent, the Chinese tech giant behind WeChat.

It comes months after Tencent invested in Indonesia’s top ride-hailing app, Go-Jek. In its native China, it’s also a backer of Didi Chuxing.

Ola, available in 110 cities, offers cars, shuttle buses, and even three-wheeler rickshaws. Uber, meanwhile, is active in around 30 Indian cities.

Bumper funding for India’s tech titans so far this year:

• 1st: Flipkart, with US$3.9 billion
• 2nd: Paytm, with US$1.6 billion
• 3rd: Ola, with US$1.5 billion