Ride-hailing giant, Ola, announced that it has acquired the Mumbai-based Ridlr. The deal mark’s Ola’s expansion into the public transportation segment. The deal is primarily a stock transaction. The acquisition is the second such major acquisition made by Ola. In December 2017, the ride hailing giant acquired Foodpanda in a $40-$50 million deal.

“Public transportation serves millions of Indians every day, and powering these needs with real-time information, mobile ticketing, cashless payments, and reliable services is bound to impact their end experience. The challenge really is to make the entire ecosystem inclusive and robust for all. Ridlr, in a short span has made huge strides in this space,” said Bhavish Aggarwal, CEO, Ola.

Ridlr was founded in 2010 by Brijraj Vaghani and Ravi Khemani and was launched in 2012. It is an end-to-end public transport ticketing and commuting application. In July 2016, the company had raised approximately $6 million from prominent investors like Matrix Partners and Times Internet. The company focuses on catering to the commuter’s daily intra-city travel needs as well as provides real time information on the traffic in Indian cities, thus, enabling its users to plan their travel accordingly by searching for and booking a preferred mode of public transport.

“We have been offering end-to-end mass transit solutions to Indians, making their daily commute seamless across different public transportation modes. Ola, on the other hand, has made deep in-roads in the realm of urban mobility through its smart ridesharing solutions. By joining forces with Ola, we will act as a one-stop destination for any urban commute,” said Brijraj Vaghani, founder of Ridlr.

As per the terms of the acquisition, Ridlr’s workforce of 64 employees will join Ola, along with the Ridlr’s founder Brijraj Vaghani, who will continue leading the company’s operations. In addition to its partnership with BEST, the company has also joined hands with the Mumbai and Delhi metro and is working on pilots in other cities as well.

(Picture courtesy: YouTube)