Ola Cabs raises second round of funding

Online taxi aggregator Ola Cabs has raised a second round of funding from Matrix Partners India and existing investor Tiger Global Management. The company, which did not disclose the amount raised, will use the funds to expand to new cities and invest in technology and analytics. Ola raised its first round of funding in April last year.

The Mumbai-based company is among a handful of online taxi aggregators that have launched operations in recent years. Bangalore-based TaxiForSure and Savaari Car Rentals are the other prominent online taxi ventures. These firms do not own or operate taxis directly, but link taxis with customers through their desktop and mobile platforms.

Savaari raised an undisclosed amount of funding from Intel Capital last month. In 2012, the company had raised 5 crore from Inventus Capital. TaxiForSure too raised about $4 million (over 25 crore) from Accel Partners, Helion Venture Partners and Blume Ventures earlier this year.

In October, San Francisco-based Uber, which allows users to book premium cars through a mobile app, launched operations in Bangalore. This year, Uber raised around $300 million (over 1,800 crore) from investors including Google Ventures.

Ola, founded in 2011, currently operates in Mumbai, Bangalore, Delhi, Chennai and Pune. The company, which aims to earn revenues of $100 million (over 600 crore) in fiscal 2014, has about 6,500 cabs in its network.