Ola acquires Ridlr to expand public transport business

Cab hailing firm Ola has acquired Mumbai-based Ridlr, an end-to-end public transport ticketing, and commuting app as the company seeks to improve its navigation technology and potentially expand the range of its services.

Bhavish Aggarwal, CEO of Ola, said, "Public transportation serves millions of Indians every day, and powering these needs with real-time information, mobile ticketing, cashless payments, and reliable services is bound to impact their end experience. The challenge really is to make the entire ecosystem inclusive and robust for all. Ridlr, in a short span, has made huge strides in this space.”

Brijraj Vaghani, CEO of Ridlr, said in a statement, "We have been offering end-to-end mass transit solutions to Indians, making their daily commute seamless across different public transportation modes. Ola, on the other hand, has made deep in-roads in the realm of urban mobility through its smart ridesharing solutions. By joining forces with Ola, we will act as a one-stop destination for any urban commute."

As part of the acquisition, Ridlr’s current workforce of 64 employees will join Ola and co-founder Brijraj Vaghani will continue to lead operations.

Ridlr founded in 2010 operates as a personal transport portal that allowed users buy tickets for public transport in 17 Indian cities and also monitor traffic congestion using IOT devices.

Ola recently raised $1.1 billion from investors including Chinese internet giant Tencent and Japan’s SoftBank and said it was in advanced talks to raise another $1 billion from existing and new investors.