Matrix and TIL-backed Ridlr likely to be acquired by Ola in fire sale

Ride-hailing major Ola is likely to acquire transportation app Ridlr to improve its navigation technology and adding more services. Ridlr provides real-time traffic information and allows users to book tickets for public transportation services like buses and trains across 19 cities in India.

While the amount involved in the probable acquisition is unknown, the deal said to be distressed for the Times Internet-backed company.

Founded in 2010 by Brijraj Vaghani and Ravi Khemani, Ridlr has raised about $6 million from TIL, Matrix Partners, and Qualcomm Ventures. Notably, Times Internet and Matrix have also backed Ola.

Besides helping Ola in building scalable navigation technology, the acquisition may trigger the Bhavish Aggarwal-led company to enable intra-city bus and train bookings inside its app.

So far, Ola had acquired companies including TaxiforSure and most recently Foodpanda. In 2015, Ola bought cab aggregator TaxiForSure (TFS), for $200 million. Last year, it acquired Foodpanda from Delivery Hero (owner of Foodpanda brand globally) in a stock deal valued at $40 million.

Founded in 2011, Ola claims to have 12.5 crore registered users in India and more than 10 lakh driver partners in more than 110 cities. The company serves as many as a billion rides in India annually through its platform. Last month, it also launched its operations in Mizoram’s capital Aizawl.

Also Read: Ride-hailing major Ola kickstarts operations in Aizawl

On local turf, Ola has fiercely been competing with global ride-hailing behemoth Uber. For the past two years, both have been at loggerheads to acquire more customer. Besides local market, the Bengaluru-based has also been eyeing expansion in other countries including Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, and Australia.

Last month, it had kicked-off its service in Australia and is about to enter Nepal, Bangladesh, and Sri Lanka.

To fight Uber, Ola had raked in massive $2 billion fresh round from SoftBank and Tencent in September last year. Importantly, it has been playing proactive moves in electric vehicle segment too.

Currently, it runs a fleet of electric vehicles in Nagpur and had invested upwards of Rs 50 crore towards EVs and charging infrastructure in the orange city. Ola is also setting up a dedicated team to design Ola electric auto fleet (e-rickshaws) across the country.

The news report was first appeared in Mint.