Four large cab-hailing services—India’s Ola, China’s Didi Kuaidi Joint Co., US-based Lyft and Singapore-based GrabTaxi—have unveiled global ride-share agreement to take on common enemy Uber Technologies Inc., the world’s most valuable start-up.
Under the partnership, the companies can operate in one another’s home countries, making it easy for them to enter untapped markets with least effort.
“This is the right international expansion strategy — for us, our users and our investors,” said John Zimmer, president and co-founder of Lyft.
Uber operates in 67 countries and is far bigger in operation even the new coalition is combined. The company, which has already raised more than $7 billion and is is looking to raise as much as $2.1 billion in a financing round that would value the car-booking company at $62.5 billion, said people familiar with the matter.
Many of Uber’s competitors operate in just one or two markets. Lyft, which is currently seeking $500 million in funding at a valuation of $4 billion, operates only in the United States.
Ola is a ride-hailing company in India, and GrabTaxi operates in Singapore, Malaysia, the Philippines, Thailand, Vietnam and Indonesia. Under the partnership, Lyft users traveling to India will be able to open the Lyft app there and have local rides supplied by Ola. In Southeast Asian countries, Lyft will have a similar arrangement with GrabTaxi.
“The partnership with Lyft, GrabTaxi and Ola allows Chinese users unprecedented ease of international travel, and helps each of us improve our own services, leveraging our collective technology and expertise,” said Cheng Wei, chief executive of Didi Kuaidi.
“This is a win for the diversity and vitality of the global ride-share industry," he added.
The alliance has been forming over the last few months. In September, Lyft teamed with Didi, the Chinese ride-hailing aggregator, to provide services to Chinese who enter the United States. The move also lets Lyft users find rides in China using the Lyft app.
BW Reporters
The author is Senior Correspondent with BW Businessworld
