Some of Uber's largest rivals Friday announced a global ride-sharing
agreement that they say will cover nearly 50 percent of the world's
population, marking the latest step in a fight to lure customers away from
the taxi-hailing leader.
In this collaboration, Didi Kuaidi, GrabTaxi, Lyft and Ola will be able to
leverage each other's technology, local market knowledge and business
resources. The partner services are planned to roll out early next year, the
companies said in a joint statement.
The aim of this alliance is to provide travelers with greater accessibility
to on-demand rides anywhere, enabling users to book rides from each other's
apps.
The global partnership is built upon "our shared vision of reconnecting
communities through better transportation," said John Zimmer, Lyft co-
founder and president.
Each of the four on-demand ride services already have an existing foothold
in various countries, and do not have any overlaps of markets that they
operate in. Three of the four companies service customers in Asia, where
these apps have increasingly gained in popularity as more consumers embrace
smartphones.
By learning from each other's innovations and successes, we can "build
better mobility solutions in our respective markets," said Ola co-founder
and CEO, Bhavish Aggarwal. Ola operates in over 102 cities across India,
with over a million daily booking requests.
"We are pleased to help Didi, Lyft and Ola offer transportation services in
Southeast Asia where the significant diversity of language, culture and
social practices across the region can be challenging for foreign companies
to navigate," said Anthony Tan, CEO of GrabTaxi, which reportedly has over 1
.5 million bookings daily across Malaysia, Singapore, Philippines, Thailand,
Vietnam and Indonesia.
All four companies also face stiff competition from Uber, which is still the
biggest on-demand ride service app globally. Collectively, Didi Kuaidi,
GrabTaxi, Lyft and Ola have raised more than $7 billion, while Uber has
raised more than $7 billion.
Uber is closing in on its goal of raising $2.1 billion in venture capital,
according to The New York Times. Once this round is completed, the total
investment will value Uber at $62.5 billion, ranking it as the world's most
valuable private start-up, according to the Times.
Taxi firms AND riders may actually like this app
"The consolidation is definitely a concern for Uber," said Bradley Gastwirth
, CEO of ABR Investment Strategy in an email interview. "This could
potentially take market share, if it works seamlessly across many different
regions in the world."
Uber has declined to comment.
The global rideshare agreement was first formed by Lyft and Didi Kuaidi in
September, which gave San Francisco-based Lyft its first access into the
Chinese market.
"This is a win for the diversity and vitality of the global rideshare
industry," said Cheng Wei, CEO of Didi Kuaidi, which has a 83 percent market
share in private car-hailing space in China.
