Four months or so after a $200 million takeover, India's biggest taxi app Ola has confirmed that the first cross-sell arrangement with TaxiForSure.
Residents of Mumbai and Delhi can now book TaxiForSure hatchbacks directly from the Ola app. The booking flow is exactly the same as for Ola, although the transaction will be handled by TaxiForSure.
In an official blog post, Ola explained:
"This is strictly a booking service offered on the Ola app, and all further support...will be provided by the team at TaxiForSure."
It also said that said that users will need to update the app and that TaxiForSure content is currently only visible on Android devices. Other destinations and an iOS version will be available soon
A few weeks after the TaxiForSure takeover, Ola raised $400 million in a Series E round and immediately earmarked $100 million of this to grow TaxiForSure. It is thought that Ola wants to integrate more closely with TaxiForSure but retain the brand.
Elsewhere, reports say that Uber is closing the gap with Ola in India. Uber's head of business in Asia, Eric Alexander, told TechCircle.in that Uber is growing its Indian business by 40% every month and that Bangalore and Kolkata are two of its fastest growing city markets in the world.
Meanwhile the Uber IPO rumours will not go away. The Financial Times has reported that Uber has now raised $10 billion in total, a figure which cannot be substantiated. Based on "people familiar with the matter" Uber is also negotiating a $2 billion credit line.
A "leaked memo to investors" is used as the basis for its claim that Uber is planning to spend $1 billion to expand its footprint in China.
Uber rarely responds to questions about funding, as well as questions about exactly how many people around the world are using its service. All will be revealed when and if the IPO actually happens. Until then, it's a multi-billion-dollar guessing game.