Ola has invested $60 million for running its international operations over the last 15 months

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Ola has reportedly put in $60 million for running and expanding its operations internationally

Currently, Ola runs its operations in 20 international cities. These include 9 in Australia, 3 in the New Zealand and 7 in the UK.

This investment will help Ola in competing better with Uber and establishing a stronger presence in international markets.

Cab hailing company Ola has reportedly put in $60 million (₹6 crores) for running and expanding its operations internationally as per the office of Singapore Corporate Regulatory authority and Accounting.  Australia, The US, The UK, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh are the countries where Ola has its presence overseas.  Ola mainly competes with the American prodigious company Uber in these markets. This investment will help Ola in competing better with Uber and establishing a stronger presence in these markets.

Uber is doing very well in the international market, generating almost 52% of its total bookings from the overseas markets. Uber has its presence in over 400 cities and 60 countries.

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The filled investment only reflects the added on costs of running operations locally, incentives and marketing.  The revenue that is spent on people, call centers and technology, all which are currently housed in India are not included in the Singaporean fillings. Ola aims of generating more revenue via its international operations. Sources claim that as much as a third of the generated revenue of the company will be from the international operations in the near future.

Currently, Ola runs its operations in 20 international cities. These include 9 in Australia, 3 in New Zealand and 7 in the UK.

This emphasis of Ola to do well internationally stems from the primary reason that the cost of running an operation internationally isn’t as high as compared to the running costs in India. The returns are also significantly higher. Price dynamics could be the basic reason for this difference. Also, the business generated from major cities like Perth, Sydney and Auckland is on par with what is generated in cities like Delhi and Mumbai for Ola. Also, it was an excellent opportunity for the company to enter markets where Uber is facing regulatory restrictions for e.g. London.

To manage its international business, Ola floated a new entity called the Ola Singapore Pte. In March 2019, it received an investment of $6 million (₹60 lakh) from its parent company ANI technologies. Also, recently the entity that was managing its UK operations was shifted to the Netherlands from Singapore.

Related : Karnataka Government backlashes Ola for charging a convenience fee for Prime Play Cabs

 For recovering its losses in India, the company is stepping down the incentives it pays to its Drivers and cutting down many add on services. It is also set to increase its prices and offer subscription services. Regulatory filings have brought to light that the revenue generated by Ola in 2018 was ₹2,222.6 crore and it cut losses of ₹2,842.3 crore in the same year.

Ola has also expanded into offering financial services as well as food delivery services under FoodPanda. These new services coupled with the international businesses are expected to help the company grow at this critical time when it is facing slow growth in India.

Ola cabs was founded by Bhavish Agarwal and Ankit Bharti in 2010 and has grown over the years to be valued at $6.4 billion as of 2019.  Ola first entered into its international markets of Australia and New Zealand in 2018. Ola recently introduced Auto Rickshaws in the UK, kick-starting its UK operations in 2019

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