SUMMARY
Ola reportedly had sent teams to explore the business opportunity in Dubai
This speculation comes in after Uber announced its plans to acquire Dubai-based Careem
With this, Dubai will become Ola’s fourth international market
After establishing a dominant position in India, Ola has been trying to strengthen its position globally. Now, the Bengaluru-based cab aggregator is reportedly looking to launch operations in Dubai.
Citing unnamed company sources, a Business Standard report has said that the company had sent teams to the Gulf state at least twice over the past year to explore the business opportunities in the market.
Responding to Inc42’s enquiry, Ola declined to comment on the matter and termed it as speculation.
Global ride hailing giant Uber may also have plans to acquire popular Dubai-based ride hailing platform Careem to expand its operations in the Greater Middle East region
Ola has been focussed on establishing its dominance in the foreign markets. In March, it announced to have expanded its services in three new cities in UK including Birmingham, Liverpool and Reading, after local councils granted the company licenses for both taxi and private hire cars.
Last year in February, it had launched its services in Perth, Australia, and had also reportedly set up teams in Dhaka, Bangladesh and Colombo, Sri Lanka. It also expanded its operations in Sydney in March last year.
Recently, it was also reported that the speculated merger of the homegrown ride-hailing unicorn with its arch-rival Uber has been called off. The reason behind this decision may be Ola’s attempt to limit the influence of its largest investor, SoftBank Vision Fund which is also an investor in Uber.
