Ola raises $1.1 billion from investors lead by Tencent and SoftBank; seeks to raise another $1 billion

Indian ride-hailing firm **Ola** has raised $1.1 billion from investors led by China’s **Tencent Holdings** and Japan’s SoftBank Group and is in advanced talks with other investors for another $1 billion. [caption id=“attachment_4104341” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Bhavish Aggarwal, CEO and co-founder of Ola. Reuters[/caption] The funds will give a leg up to Ola that has been locked in a fierce battle with rival **Uber** for a bigger piece of India’s $12 billion taxi market. Both firms have already burnt millions of dollars to lure users in a bid to outdo each other. Ola will use the funds to increase its numbers of drivers and expand its presence to more cities, it said in a statement on Wednesday. The company, which currently has a majority share of India’s ride-hailing market, operates in 110 cities and has a wide range of transport options including bikes, auto-rickshaws and **electric cars**. Uber is present in about 30 cities. It also said it would invest in artificial intelligence and machine learning capabilities, which includes technologies like its in-car entertainment platform called Play that allows riders to choose music and stream videos. The company is in advanced talks with US-based financial investors for the second tranche, which would also include funds from existing investors, a source close to the company said, declining to be identified as the talks were not yet finalised. Once the second tranche is complete Ola would have raised over $2 billion. Prior to this, the company had raised about $1.9 billion since it began operations in 2011. Uber, valued at about $69 billion, has pumped millions of dollars into India but has not been able to grow its presence at the same speed as Ola. And with Uber’s new CEO **Dara Khosrowshahi** focused on portraying the firm as a reformed company that is turning a page on concerns including sexual harassment claims and a US bribery probe, Ola has an opportunity to further extend its lead in India.