China’s Didi Kuaidi has invested in Indian ride-hailing app Ola, in order to compete with rival Uber.
The investment is part of Ola’s latest round of funding, which is expected to give the company a valuation of $5bn.
Didi joins existing investors in Ola including SoftBank , Falcon Edge, Tiger Global Management, and Singapore sovereign wealth fund GIC.
Ola controls 80% of the taxi-hailing business in India, and completes over 750,000 rides on a daily basis via a network of 320,000 cars in more than 100 cities.
Didi’s money will be used to fund Ola’s expansion plans in India. The company recently announced plans to invest $75m in a new car leasing programme, which is estimated to add 10,000 new drivers to its national network.
Earlier this month, Didi Kuaidi raised $3bn during its latest fundraising campaign, in a move to strengthen its position in China.
Lyft and Didi Kuaidi have forged an alliance to allow users of each app to hail drivers who are operating on the other company’s app.
