Transportation company Ola closed $2 billion in financing from SoftBank Group and Tencent Holdings.
Ola, which was founded and launched in December, 2010, by IIT Bombay graduates Bhavish Aggarwal and Ankit Bhati, is India’s most popular mobile app for transportation. According to the company, its competitive advantage lies in creating solutions tailored to local dynamics of the Indian market. Its options include the ultra-affordable Ola Micro, flagship Ola Mini, premium Ola Prime, luxury Ola Lux, and shared mobility solutions like Ola Share and the Ola Shuttle. The company also offers hyper-local last mile connectivity solutions such as auto-rickshaws, e-rickshaws, and Ola bikes.
According to Bloomberg, the deal will help Ola maintain its lead in India and build up its supply of vehicles and drivers, as well as technology, to help it compete against Uber.