🚕 TaxiForSure: what went wrong?
2011 – 2016 · Bengaluru
A budget taxi-booking service that partnered with local cab operators, letting people book affordable rides by app or phone.
$200MOla paid to buy it (2015)
~1,700staff when acquired
18 monthsfrom acquisition to shutdown
⏳ The moment: It's early 2015. Uber has entered India with deep pockets and Ola is spending heavily too. You're the budget player, burning cash on discounts to keep up. Ola offers to buy you. What do you do?
What would you do?
What actually happened
Ola bought TaxiForSure for about $200 million in 2015. Over the next 18 months it moved TaxiForSure's drivers and customers onto the Ola app, and in August 2016 Ola confirmed it had shut TaxiForSure down. Reports said hundreds of employees lost their jobs, with estimates ranging from about 300 to 700.
💡 In a market ruled by two giants, the third player often wins by being bought, not by fighting. But being bought doesn't guarantee the product survives.
Sources: TechCrunch · Business Standard