Taxi aggregator Olacabs has raised a $42 million Series C investment from Hong Kong-based hedge fund Steadview Capital and venture firm Sequoia Capital.
Existing investors in the India-based company, Tiger Global and Matrix Partners India, also participated in this round.
Olacabs will use the new fund to expand operations to other markets in India and invest $17 million into the supply ecosystem to "enable micro-entrepreneurship in the driver stakeholder segment". (purchase of cars)
In November 2013, Olacabs raised a Series B round of investment, though the terms were not disclosed, it was rumored to be in the range of $20 million.
Co-founder and CEO, Bhavish Aggarwal, says:
"Building a high quality transportation network in India involves substantial effort and investment. We intend to be present in at least 20 cities by the end of this year."
Co-founder and managing director of Matrix India, Avnish Bajaj, adds:
"Ola is solving a real problem by providing Indian consumers a safe, comfortable, standardized service offering at transparent and competitive prices. At the same time, it is serving cab drivers and operators helping them buy their own cars and improving business for them, thereby nurturing micro-entrepreneurship."
Competitors of Olacabs in India include Uber (now in six cities), TaxiForSure, Savaari, and Meru Cabs.
In May 2014, TaxiForSure raised $10 million in Series B round, and it announced plans to expand to 20 Indian cities in the next 18 months.
Olacabs has its service in iPhone, Android and Windows platforms, and currently over 50% of its bookings are via these apps.
Founded in early 2011 by Bhavish Aggarwal and Ankit Bhati, Olacabs has over 11,000 cabs on its platform and it is currently present across nine Indian cities including Mumbai, Bangalore, Delhi and Chandigarh.