Knowing your potential is not enough unless you act on it. You have always known you could be an entrepreneur but hesitated, doubted your capabilities?. Do not, because India has entered the age of free enterprise, private businesses if you have not already noticed.
World Bank has predicted 11+% GDP growth rate for India in Year 2021-22 far higher than any major world economy. Is it possible without the start-ups/entrepreneurial spirit? No, it is not. So why not dismiss your fears and be a part of India’s growth story.
Have you been dreaming to get into transport/cab business. This write-up covers everything you need to know.
Ola & UBER are two mega multi-national transportation companies of the world that though provide public transport but give the benefits & feel of a private transport to its commuters. That was the main motivation for people to choose their services and they succeeded in meeting their customers basic needs – Quick, cheap, ease & round-the-clock hassle free service that was.
The fundamental business model of these cab aggregators is simple. That is connecting commuters (customers) seeking on-demand cabs with the company’s driver-partners through a company owned mobile app.
The company earns its revenue by way of commission or fees levied on each ride hailed. (Both these taxi services can be booked through their respective websites too.). So in how many ways can one do business with UBER and Ola. In addition, what is the process from start to finish. Let us find out.
How to Start a Business with Uber?
There are three Ways to Earn With Uber Drive Business:
Driver cum owner
You have a car, are willing to attach it with Uber and you also drive your own car.
Commercial driver under partner
You do not own the car but wish to drive under the Uber platform. You get to drive a vehicle owned by an Uber non-driving partner.
Note: You can even choose to drive a commercial auto-rickshaw or motorbike/scooter if that service is available in your city.
Non-driving partner
You own the car, attach it with the Uber platform without self-driving any but have to manage at least one driver.
There you go. Choose any of the three depending upon your resources and earning needs.
Step-by-Step Process
Step 1. Sign up on the Uber platform through its website, by entering your basic details like name, phone no, email, city.
Step 2. If you choose first or third option from above, you’ll land up on this page
If you choose the second option, you’ll land up on this page
Step 3. Now set up your account as directed i.e. by submitting all of the above document files online. If you do not have them online, click a picture from your mobile or scan it using a cam-scanner app and upload. You can upload all the docs in the same manner. It is much easier & faster than submitting hard copies by queuing up in the office.
Step 4. To Activate your account, Bring your car to a local green light hub. These hubs are locations in a city where you must bring your car for inspection and other things. Requirements vary by city, so sign up to know.
Step 5. Once your account is set up, you can look up all the necessary information you need to know about doing business with Uber. You can even get help by contacting their phone support number.
You have a car that you want to attach with Ola platform. You also drive your own car.
Register yourself in less than a minute by entering your name, phone no. and your city. Ola team will get in touch with you within 24 hours. Additionally, be ready with these basic documents.
Benefits of this plan are:
Choose your own working hours
Choose from 100 cities to work in
Daily payments 365 days a year
Get a booking on your way home
24/7 helpline for support
Lease a Car
You know driving and need a car to drive. Ola provides you with a car without you having to worry about maintenance and insurance. Register yourself in less than a minute by entering your name, phone no. and your city. Ola team will get in touch with you within 24 hours.
Following documents are all you require to begin driving independently with Ola.
Other benefits you will derive with this plan:
Get a car at zero risk
Free accidental insurance of 2 lakhs
Zero maintenance cost
Drive a new car of your choice
Two paid holidays each month
24/7 helpline for your support
Note: If you are an auto driver, you can also attach your auto by submitting the documents, downloading the app and start to drive with Ola.
Become a fleet operator
You own a fleet of cars and you want to attach it with Ola. You just need to track & control your fleet through specialised app.
Register yourself in less than a minute by entering your name, phone no. and your city. Ola team will get in touch with you within 24 hours.
Following basic documents are required. These are also the exact same documents you will need under option one i.e. to become a ‘partner with a car’.
Benefits under this scheme:
Get detailed reports of total earnings
Monitor driver logins and other trip details
Live tracking of all your drivers and cars
Get alerts like payments, logouts, etc.
Check your fleet’s performance anytime
Receive 24/7 phone support
Sure you will have further queries like ‘registration charge, initial payment if any to lease a car or two drivers for a single car’ etc. For this, you just have to visit the Ola Partner Portal.
Note: You can also attach your Rickshaw or Bike with Ola. To know more, visit the above web page & send your enquiry through a quick action tab.
Things to Consider Before Starting business with Ola or Uber
There is no definite answer but there is an answer definitely that can help you decide whether to do business with either/both of them or not. Here are two Factors to consider.
Profitability
You will surely get a ‘fare’ share of the rent but will you also get a ‘fair’ share? Is it profitable to attach car with Ola or Uber? To find an answer to this, you need to know the cost structure of both companies. Here’s the cost break-up if you rent a car:
According to the source site, you have to work 3-4 hours just to break even i.e. to earn enough to not make a loss. Therefore, in order to make any profit, you will need to work more than 3 hours a day.
And what if you attach your own car. You already have all the cost & pricing details, so just pick up a pen-paper and calculate your likely earnings, deducting all the costs.
This is a very crude analysis, which you can take as a starting point. However, it can certainly help you build a business/earning plan that suits your specific requirements.
Ease of operation & technological superiority
These two factors directly add to your job satisfaction. Consider each carefully. App features-wise & its daily payment feature make Ola look superior to Uber. Even though some may contest that Uber is cheaper in general.
However, according to user experiences, Ola & Uber fare differently in different cities. Hence, a ground study & research is the best approach before you decide to choose one of the two.
Conclusion
Both Ola & Uber have ambitious plans for the future. While Uber has a vision of becoming the top urban mobility platform, Ola is striving toward building mobility for a billion people. Whoa! Why dream small, right!
FAQs
Can I do business with Ola & Uber both?
Yes, you can do Cab business with both Ola and Uber.
Are there fixed work hours or timings for Cab drivers in Ola and Uber?
No, there is no fixed time or hours of business with either Ola or Uber. You can choose when & how much you want to work.
What are future service offerings of Ola & Uber?
For Uber few of the future business offerings could be electric scooters, bike-sharing & autonomous (driver-less) vehicles. Apart from its wide range of cab booking services, Ola plans to launch its own line of electric scooters via its ‘Ola electric mobility’ subsidiary.
Is putting the car in Ola profitable?
You can easily profit over Rs. 15,000 a month by giving car to Ola.
What percentage does Ola/uber take?
Both Ola and Uber take 25–40% of the amount as their commission.
Company Profile is an initiative by StartupTalky to publish verified information on different startups and organizations. The content in this post has been approved by Lyft.
The urging need for a better and safer travel system is fulfilled by Lyft. Lyft has become a household name from the time it was launched in 2012. Lyft is highly considered by the citizens of the United States and Canada for booking their rides.
Lyft was launched in 2012 by Logan Green and John Zimmer as the second-largest ride-sharing company in the United States. From the time of its launch up till now, it is known to provide multiple facilities such as providing a ride, arranging the driver, delivering food, etc.
Lyft has its roots expanded and well-developed in its field. Let us have a look at other important details such as founders, back story, mission and vision, business models, etc.
Let’s go through the Lyft success story and know about Lyft, its founders, business model, revenue model, funding, startup story, competitors and more.
Mobile Apps, Ride Sharing, Software, Transportation
Area Served
United States, Canada
Revenue
$3.2 billion (2021)
Total Funding
$4.9 billion (2022)
Website
www.lyft.com
Lyft – About
Lyft is an American-based mobility provider providing service that is considered the second-largest trusted ridesharing service in the United States. Lyft provides an application of its own that works in favour of people to help them with their travel plans. Apart from managing their travel, it also offers other services such as food delivery, ride-sharing, and renting bicycles types of services.
Lyft uses 58+ technology products and services in its application and website. This enables the easy and updated use of its technology. Lyft is not a cab hiring service, instead, it connects the user with the facility provider to earn profit.
Lyft – Industry
The mobile application industry is the fastest growing industry due to the increased number of users. Along with mobile applications, the usage of personalized software makes it much more compatible to be used by any startup. In recent years, the software industry along with the mobile application industry has been combined to give out better results and eliminate the restricted use of models due to medium.
The ridesharing industry is the new talk of the town as the assumption to be believed is that the global ride-sharing market is projected to grow with a 16.6% CAGR with an estimated USD of 85.8 billion in 2021 to be around 185.1 billion by 2026 as per the report published by marketsandmarkets.com.
The transportation industry deals with the economy and the movements of people from one place to another. Lyft works together in this industry to provide relevant services with a profitable business.
Lyft – Founders and Team
Logan Green
Logan Green, CEO and Co-founder of Lyft
Logan Green, highly recognized as the CEO and co-founder of Lyft, was born in Los Angeles in 1983. Green is recorded to complete his schooling at New Roads High School, California. For his higher education, Green attended the University of California, Santa Barbara (UCSB). He completed his bachelor’s in 2006 and is recorded to hold a degree of Bachelor of Arts in Business Economics.
During his education, Green had achieved and served a few great responsibilities. Green had created the Green Initiative Fund while still being a student. He also served as a board member for Isla Vista Recreation and Park District in his early life.
Before the launch of Lyft, there was another carpooling service founded by Green and his friend John Zimmer named Zimride in the year 2007. After the success of Zimride, Green was not yet satisfied with his work and went forward to embrace the risk with the launch of Lyft in 2012.
John Zimmer
John Zimmer, Co-founder and President of Lyft
John Zimmer is a co-founder and president of Lyft born in 1984. He completed his education at Cornell University School of Hotel Administration. He was known to be a member of Sigma Pi Fraternity during his college years.
After completing his education, Zimmer went on to work as an analyst for real estate finance at Lehman Brothers (New York City).
While working for the Lehman Brothers, Zimmer along with his dearest friend Logan Green went on to launch a ridesharing platform named Zimride. After some time, Zimmer left his job at Lehman Brothers and again went on to give rise to another ridesharing platform named Lyft with the equal contribution from Logan Green.
Lyft – Startup Story
Initially, Lyft was started just as a part of Zimride. The story behind it becoming the sole project of John Zimmer and Logan Green is quite interesting to look at. Lyft is not any on-road ridesharing enabling platform, instead, it is the second most used ridesharing service in the United States.
To know the exact reason behind Lyft, one must be aware of the story of Zimride. As for the start, Lyft was a part of Zimride only before selling it to a private company.
The founders of Lyft met each other through a common friend and got to know each other on Facebook.
Logan Green used to travel to Los Angeles to meet his girlfriend. Green used to make sharing rides for travelling the distance. However, the key point in their travelling was mostly his anxiety about unknown drivers and passengers.
On the other hand, John Zimmer used to own a car but didn’t have any possible rider to share his ride with. He noticed that 80% of seats are empty on American Highways.
Both the friends put up their thoughts together and created the carpooling service named Zimride in 2007. The logic behind naming Zimride was taken from Zimbabwe, where they encountered people sharing rides as their basic transportation.
Zimride was created by keeping college students in mind. It was created in a way to provide easy travel access to the campus carpooling. They also provided a good way for students to earn money through Zimride. Till the year 2012, Zimride had thousands of users with 150+ universities participating in the business. Even after the great achievement, the co-founders were left with some dissatisfaction in their minds.
To improve the business and provide more easy ways to the users, Logan Green and John Zimmer gave rise to Lyft.
“Lyft came out of a hackathon project where we were trying to figure out what does Zimride look like on mobile.” – Logan Green.
With the concept in mind, they built and launched the Lyft application in the year 2012. Soon after the launch of Lyft, it started raising enough funds for its development. Lyft also proved as a healthy competitor to already existing ride-sharing company Uber.
With the constant expansion of Lyft, the co-founders of Lyft concluded renaming Zimride “Lyft” in 2013. Along with that, they sold the Zimride services to Enterprise Holdings.
From there on, Lyft has successfully tried to accomplish its goal and is still on its way to success even after some rough waves.
Lyft – Mission and Vision
The mission stated by Lyft is to “Improve people’s lives with the world’s best transportation”.
The vision of Lyft is stated as “ride by ride, we are changing the way our world works. We imagine a world where cities feel small again. Where transportation and tech bring people together, instead of apart. We see the future as community-driven and it starts with you.”
Lyft – Name, Tagline, and Logo
Name
Lyft name of the vehicle is the general word “lift” and shares the same meaning. The idea behind naming Lyft ” originated after Logan Green observed people sharing minivan taxis in Zimbabwe. From there, the idea to name their startup Lyft ” originated, However, it was made in use after a few years when Zimride was renamed Lyft.
Tagline
The tagline of Lyft is Your Friend with a car.
The Initial thought of the Lyft founders was to enable safer and secure travelling options for daily commuters. The tagline itself suggests that a customer can trust their rider like a friend and can travel comfortably without worry.
Logo
Lyft Logo
In the first logo of Lyft, The Pink Moustache with the name Lyft was made. However, with time, only the name is left as its logo.
Yet, Lyft vehicles were found to have a big pink moustache attached in the front. The prime reason behind this was the old friend of the founder of Lyft named Ethan Eyler. Ethan Eyler was known to run a company at that time selling big pink moustaches that can be attached to vehicles in the front.
As for the logo of Lyft, all the letters of Lyft are written in small letters with Pink colours on a white background. The reason behind selecting the colour pink was to normalize the Lyft brand as more friendly for females riders. Lyft was originally planned as a fun-filled and friendly ride-sharing option for its users and hence selecting such a vibrant colour gives out a similar vibe to daily commuters.
Lyft is an on-demand ride-hailing platform. It enables the online connection of a ride needing the user to the rider available at the nearby location. The typical business model of Lyft works on the principle of Peer to Peer model.
It combines all the necessary details such as base charge, the distance covered, the per-minute charges, the per-mile cost, time of day, ride type, the chosen route, number of available drivers, current demand for rides, and any extra charges or taxes. With all this calculation, the only remaining part is the time required to reach the destination. After going through all these elements, the final fare is decided.
There are four basic steps in the Lyft Business Model. However, Lyft itself is compromised of two different parts, riders, and drivers.
Riders
The four basic steps for Riders are:
Requesting a Ride
In this step, a rider needs to download the application of Lyft and complete their profile. Once done with the basic process, they can start with the available options and decide according to their needs.
Coordination
This step is mainly done by Lyft. Lyft enables the nearby available Lyft ride as a suggested option as per the rider. Once matched, basic information is shared on both sides such as the live location of the driver with the vehicle information, and the driver’s name is shared with the rider. And the personal needed information about the rider is shared with the driver for their easy access to each other.
Ride
Once the request is accepted by the driver and the ride is accessed by the rider. The actual map of the destination is shared with the driver and real-time tracking is enabled for the safety of the rider.
Final Check With Payment and Ratings
Once the ride is completed, the final amount is displayed to both parties with the option of rating each other. A rider can rate the driver with needy comments and the same facility is given to the driver to rate their rides.
Drivers
Lyft has a slight change to the business models for those wishing to make money through driving but does not have their vehicle. For such people, Lyft has a dedicated Express Drive Program through which one can easily rent a car to drive. Before that, they need to get eligible to bypass the profile screening test. Once all this procedure is done, the driver can then start with their allocated process of four steps:
To Register As A Driver
For this process, Lyft has assigned them another application known as Lyft Driver App. After downloading the application, the driver needs to set up their profile with honest details. Once completed, they can then enable themselves on a Drive Mode to receive notifications from neighbouring locations.
Receiving A Request
After the drive mode is on, the Lyft application allows the nearby passenger’s details to be sent to the driver for the ride. A driver has the option of either accepting or neglecting the ride request based on their judgments.
Completing A Ride
When a ride is accepted by the driver, basic details are shared on both the sides by Lyft Application. Along with that real-time tracking is enabled for higher safety. Once the ride is completed, the Lyft application automatically calculates the payment based on multiple factors and displays them on the screen.
Payment and Ratings
A rider needs to pay up a shown amount to the driver. Once the whole process is complete, a driver can rate their riders on a scale of 1 to 5.
Lyft – Revenue Model
Lyft gets its revenue mostly from the bookings made through it. Bookings stand for the completed rides done through Lyft Application. Lyft takes a commission from each of those rides. 80% of each completed ride goes to its driver whereas 20% is taken by Lyft.
In the year 2020, Lyft earned its revenue of approximately $2.3 billion.
Lyft generates its revenue from multiple sources.
Commission From Bookings
This is the majorly constituting source of revenue. As explained above, Lyft cutes 20% of the total payment made by riders after completion of their rides as its commission.
Supply And Demand-Based Fare
Lyft has its prices hiked at certain periods of the day. This is done at the time of traffic, high demand for rides, and similar situations. In this model, Lyft hikes its price temporarily and earns extra profit through each ride.
Availing Subscription Plan
The subscription program of Lyft is called Lyft Pink for riders. Lyft allows its users with the subscription plan of paying $19.99 per month or $199 per year to avail of various benefits such as 15% off on rides, a few additional discounts, and many others. This model also earns Lyft a good source of revenue.
Multimodal Business Plan
Lyft is not confined to a single ride-sharing platform, it has a few different similar services on hand too. Lyft is an on-demand ride-sharing platform giving out four different options for rides. They have scooters and bikes, public transportation, ridesharing service, and a self-driving facility.
Amongst them all, users can easily select their preferred options such as for shorter distances, one can prefer bike and scooter or for some specific reason, one can go with the option of the self-driving vehicle. All this has also contributed to the revenue collected by Lyft.
DOOH
Digital-Out-Of-Door stands for the method of advertisement in a ride. This method is used by Lyft itself also to advertise for the self. Apart from that, Lyft also gives out advertisements to others in exchange for certain fees.
Lyft – Employees
Lyft has its headquarters in San Francisco. Apart from that, it has its offices set up in various locations. The total count of locations is 31 different located offices covering the parts of 6 countries.
As of 2021, Lyft was calculated to be having 4369 employees working for it.
Lyft provides its employees with several facilities as per their job positions. Some of the facilities given by Lyft are Insurance of different types, retirement plans, maternity and paternity leaves, paid holidays, etc.
Some of the key people of Lyft are:
Logan Green- CEO of Lyft
John Zimmer- President Of Lyft
Anthony Fox- Chief Policy Officer, Senior Advisor to President & CEO
Brian Roberts- Chief Financial Officer
Kristin Sverchek- President of Business Affairs
Eisar Lipkovitz- Executive Vice President, Rideshare and Engineering
Lyft has a total of 79 investors and 13 lead investors investing on its platform.
Date
Transaction Name
Money Raised
Lead Investors
Mar 1, 2019
Secondary Market
–
–
Jan 25, 2019
Secondary Market
–
–
Sep 20, 2018
Secondary Market
–
–
Jun 28, 2018
Series I
$600M
Fidelity Management and Research Company
May 4, 2018
Secondary Market
–
–
Mar 16, 2018
Corporate Round
$200M
Magna International
Dec 6, 2017
Series H
$1.1M
–
Dec 5, 2017
Series H
$500M
CapitalG, Rakuten
Oct 19, 2017
Series H
$1B
CapitalG
Sep 15, 2017
Secondary Market
–
–
From the time of its start till now, Lyft has participated in 27 rounds of funding and has received the amount of $4.9 billion. Their latest funding was raised on March 01, 2019.
Lyft – Acquisitions
Lyft has a total of 11 acquisitions with an investment of around $342M.
Kamcord
Leo
Cherry
YesGraph
Halo Cars
Flexdrive
Blue Vision Labs
Motivate
Hitch
DataScore
Lyft – Growth
Lyft was launched three years after Uber. Uber is considered the largest and most trusted ridesharing service in the United States. Earlier, Lyft was started as a ride-sharing company for long distances. But with time, they gave out different options for short distances too.
With this initiation, Lyft came out to be the biggest competitor to Uber. Uber was a well-settled company at that time, yet the growth seen by Lyft in its expansion was commendable. Lyft expanded roughly from 60 cities to 300 cities by the time of 2017.
Another thing that worked in the favour of Lyft was the anti-Uber Campaign in 2017. The campaign allowed Lyft to make its name by eating up Uber’s popularity. The market share earned by Lyft increased from 22% to 33% in the year 2018.
Lyft – Advertisement and Social Media Campaigns
Lyft uses multiple methods to advertise its brand. Lyft is known to take help from social media influencers for its typical advertisement of itself.
Some of the celebrity endorsers of Lyft are LeBron James and Nigel Sylvester. LeBron James is the celebrity influencer used by Lyft for its advertising strategy, whereas Nigel Sylvester is a YouTube content creator, helping them to reach a wider range of users.
Apart from this, Lyft also takes the help from passionate influencers having the ability to reach heights and advertise their platform.
Another common method used by Lyft for its advertisement is in the form of Digital-Out-Of-Home (DOOH). This means advertising a platform within a ride. Lyft also advertises itself by using this method. Lyft also uses Google Ads for socializing its platform.
Each brand keeps on introducing different campaigns to gain the attention of users. The two most successful campaigns launched by Lyft are:
Riding is the new driving.
How to Human.
Riding is the new driving– It was launched in 2016 with a one-minute message showing the traffic drive with a heart vibe.
How to Human campaign was launched in 2019 to normalize the world after a long fight with the COVID pandemic. Even though at that time, the pandemic was not over, few things were coming back to normal. During this campaign, Tinder also teamed up with Lyft for this campaign to avail free rides for the customers as an effort of easing the concept of socializing and dating.
Lyft – Online and Social Media Presence
Lyft has an active Social Media Presence across different platforms. Lyft uses social media platforms as a way of advertising itself. Along with that, it also uses different platforms for announcing new steps.
Social media platform
Followers
Twitter
289.3k
Instagram
180k
Facebook
658k
Lyft – Competitors
Lyft has about 30+ competitors in the market. The top three amongst them are:
Uber Technologies Inc.
Gett.
DiDi.
Uber
Uber is the biggest competitor of Lyft. It was launched in 2009. Uber Technologies Inc. is an American-based mobility service providing company. They serve 72 countries with approximately 10,500 countries. Services given by Uber include, ride-hailing services, food delivery services under the name of Uber eats, package and courier delivery, renting a vehicle, etc. Uber is the leading ride-sharing platform in the United States acquiring about 71% market share of rides sharing as noted in Jan 2022.
Gett
Gett, previously known as GetTaxi, is an Israeli-based transportation provider founded in 2010. Gett mainly focuses on Corporate Ground Transportation Management (CGTM). Areas served by Gett are Israel, Russia, the United States, the United Kingdom, and Europe. Services provided by Gett are corporate fleet, taxi, ride-hailing, and providing limos to their customers as per their request.
DiDi
Didi Chuxing Technology Co. is a Chinese vehicle for hire company launched in 2012. The company deals with application-based transportation services. DiDi provides services to 400+ cities. Common services given by DiDi are Taxi, Express, Premier, Bus, Designated Driving, Enterprise Solutions, Bike Sharing, Car Rental, food delivery, etc.
Lyft – Future Plans
“Now more than ever, we need to work together to create cleaner, healthier, and more equitable communities,” said John Zimmer, co-founder, and president, of Lyft.
Lyft plans to reach 100% electric vehicles on its platform by the time of 2030. This move will help in decreasing the harmful emissions to the environment. Lyft plans to use 100% electric vehicles in 10 years. All the vehicles used on the Lyft platform will be either eligible as electric vehicles or will be reliable to zero-emission technology.
To fulfil this dream, from the year 2017, Lyft was known to work towards the development of electric cars. However, Lyft sold its self-driving unit to Toyota’s unit Woven Planet in 2021.
This step might seem like a hurdle for the future vision of Lyft. But on the better aspects, both the parties are bound in a contract to share data. This allows easy sharing of work between both the companies.
As no developing company would like to work on two aspects together. It is better for Lyft to work towards its main business of ride-sharing and for Woven Planet to work solely on the development part rather than taking interest in the ride-sharing business. With this assumption, we can look forward to having a better and clearer environment through the efforts of Lyft.
Lyft plans to fulfil its dream of establishing 100% autonomous vehicles but with a slight change in the actual plan by mainly focusing on its B2B branch.
Lyft – FAQs
Who is the founder of Lyft?
Logan Green and John Zimmer are the founders of Lyft.
What is Lyft?
Lyft is a ride-hailing service founded by Logan Green and John Zimmer.
Who is the CEO of Lyft?
Logan Green is the current CEO of Lyft.
When was Lyft founded?
Lyft was founded in 2012 by Logan Green and John Zimmer.
Ankit Bhati is the Co-founder and Chief Technology Officer (CTO) of Ola Cabs. He founded Ola with his companion Bhavish Aggarwal in 2010. He is also the Co-founder of ANI Technologies. Speculations arose that Ankit Bhati distanced himself from the ridesharing company last year owing to some serious conflicts between him and the founder of the company, Bhavish Aggarwal. Nonetheless, his contribution to the company is way more than such conjectures. So, let us know more about him in the article ahead.
Ankit Bhati was born in the year 1987 in Jodhpur, India. He currently resides in Bangalore, Karnataka, India. He is considered an introvert who spends his time coding while sitting in a corner. He likes to spend his spare time playing video games with his friends. Ankit Bhati is active on social media platforms including Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook.
During his academic career, he was not interested in extracurricular activities rather he was more interested in computers. Ankit used to spend most of his time at the computer center. Bhati was less of a guy who would hop to the basketball court in his leisure but more of one who would sit in front of a computer. Ankit also became the administrator in the computer center he mostly used to hang out. Along with diving deep into video games, Ankit also loved to build websites and worked on freelance projects to make money during his college days.
Apart from computers, he has a great interest in cycling and adventure trips that he took where he also tagged his friends along. The idea of building a trip website (Olatrips.com) was initially out of his interest in adventure trips.
“It always is about being able to simplify things,” says Ankit, which is what technology is credited with. Therefore, Bhati stayed confident with their idea of OLA cabs because that also was about simplifying the experience for the customers and the driver-partners.
Ankit Bhati – Education
In 2004, Ankit Bhati took admission to the Indian Institue of Technology, Bombay for a B.Tech in Mechanical Engineering. He knew that the only field where he can grow heights is computer programming and technology. He later got enrolled for M.Tech in CAD and automation and completed his Master’s in 2010. During his college days, he also worked on freelance projects in building websites to make money. After completing his higher studies in Mumbai, Ankit Bhati founded ANI Technologies in Bangalore, Karnataka. He is known to keep a low profile image as he is hardly seen on any event or product launches.
Ankit Bhati started working on several freelance projects in 2009. Bhati contributed to the growth of several startups like Wilcom, Make sense, QED42, and more. It was only in April 2021 that Bhati as a Venture Catalyst has funded a Noida-based Edtech startup – Qin1.
He was highly motivated to start his own company and give up on his authoritative professional life. He further moved on with Ola Cabs journey in November 2010.
Ankit Bhati is a computer programmer and contributed to the Ground Transportation industry. He has 6,231 colleagues in 633 companies situated in 59 countries. Moreover, 1,722 executive movements have been recorded in the last year.
Ankit Bhati, Co-founder and former CTO of OLA, has launched a new startup, as per reports dated January 7, 2022. The startup that goes by the name Amnic is designed to operate as a SaaS startup, co-founded by Nimish Joshi and Satya Nagarajan. Both of the co-founders were Ola executives and held the posts of VP and Head of Strategy and Business Development, and VP and Head of Software Engineering and AI respectively. Amnic will be reportedly operating in the DevOps toolchain space.
Ankit Bhati – Success Story
Ankit Bhati struggled in his old apartment near IIT Bombay, inspecting his intellect to code the Ola website. He vividly recalled those days when he used to save money from his pocket to visit a cyber cafe. He used to spend his time in chat rooms to discover the world of the internet.
When Ankit joined IIT Bombay, he spent most of his time at the computer center. Technology has changed a lot today and he thrives to deal with the challenges on daily basis. His 10 long years of experience has led him to encounter many technical glitches, though he manages to strive the team on. He eventually got to know the importance of data that helped him combat the technical glitches and driver partners for Ola.
Ankit Bhati is the co-founder of ANI Technologies. He founded the company with his college senior Bhavish Agarwal in 2010. ANI Technologies Private Limited is an online transportation company. It offers cab booking, riding, and renting services. Ola Cabs is the portal of ANI Technologies and it serves customers worldwide.
Ola was launched on 3 December 2010 by Bhavish Aggarwal and Ankit Bhati as the Founder and Co-founder of the ride-sharing company respectively. Initially, Ola was launched to offer holiday packages and weekend trips on Olatrips.com. The business merely changed to, what we today know as Ola Cabs.
Ankit Bhati was responsible to handle the technical facets of Ola Cabs to assure a swift, convenient and spontaneous experience for the customers and partners. Ankit Bhati had mentioned that his mornings in Ola used to start with understanding data. This ritualistically started every day with his gaining insights into the rides that OLA offered and which of them gained the most traction. Furthermore, he also looked into the needs of the customers, the ratings of the drivers, figuring out the quickest routes for drivers, calculating the time taken by drivers to reach a yonder point, whether a passenger would be willing to share rides, and for how long he would wait for the same and much more. Absorbed in all these complexities, Bhati decided to pave way for OLA.
Ola Cabs is one of the fastest-growing startups in India. The tech team of the company today holds over 1,000 people.
Ankit Bhati – Foodpanda Controversy
Ankit Bhati – Foodpanda Controversy
In 2017, Ola Cabs acquired food delivery start-up Foodpanda to rival Uber Eats. Some serious conflicts arose among Bhavish and Ankit when Ankit agreed to the contract of delivering food through Foodpanda via Ola Cabs. It has also been pointed out that Bhavish had issues regarding the food delivery matter through Ola Cabs.
Speculations arose again when Bhavish restricted Ankit inOla Electric. Ankit was only a small part of it through ANI Technologies. Ola Electric is Bhavish’s project to build a network of electric charging stations across the country. Bhavish bought 92.5 % of the Ola Electric. This is when Ankit decided to distance himself from the company. However, the distancing and the split of the OLA co-founders, as far as the rumor goes, are nothing but baseless rumors, as announced by Bhavish Aggarwal in his latest statement. The OLA co-founder said, “It’s a shame that baseless rumour-mongering and speculation is being fanned,” while denying the Moneycontrol report.
Ankit Bhati currently holds 7,62,385 shares in Ola’s India operations, which sums to around 25% stakes in the company. Furthermore, Bhati also holds 1,66,185 shares, which amounts to 6% stakes in the US operations of OLA.
Ankit Bhati – A Fresh Start with Amnic
While looking at the professional front, Ankit Bhati had last been associated with Ola Play. However, Ankit had taken what seemed like quite an exit from the day-to-day operations of the firm since the end of 2017. No official statements nor any notice was out on Ankit Bhati’s exiting the company and as we have mentioned Bhati still holds a considerable amount of shares.
Ankit Bhati simply took a break and it is now clear what he was doing in the meanwhile. Yes, we are talking about the new startup Amnic that Ankit Bhati co-founded along with two other Ola execs – Nimish Joshi and Satya Nagarajan. Amnic Technologies will be focusing on the Saas segment in DevOps toolchain space, goes the reports published on 8th January 2022. Furthermore, the report also mentioned that Amnic would be raising $15 Mn- $20 Mn from Sequoia Capital as part of its seed round. Zauba Corp already has this company listed since June 3, 2021, which is “involved in other computer-related activities”, such as maintenance of other company’s websites and creating multimedia presentations. However, confirmation is still pending from the alleged co-founders of Amnic. Their social profiles also refrain from mentioning any updates of the same.
FAQs
Who is Ankit Bhati?
Ankit Bhati is Co-founder at Ola since September 2010.
Where was Ankit Bhati born?
Ankit Bhati was born in 1987 in Jodhpur, a city in Rajasthan, India.
What is Ankit Bhati education?
Ankit Bhati has done B.Tech in Mechanical engineering and M.Tech in CAD & Automation from IIT, Bombay.
What is Ankit Bhati net worth?
Ankit Bhati has a net worth of around INR 1400 crores, when last reported in September 2019.
Did you know 17% of small businesses fail because they lack a business model? Entrepreneurs now are the time to learn about this amazing business model canvas, which will make that stress go away. Here, I have taken the real-life example of Uber for this business model canvas.
A lean canvas and a value proposition are two sorts of business models. These are tools for validating company concepts geared for startups. Both originate from Alexander Osterwalder’s ‘business model canvas,’ which we’ll explore today.
The primary distinction between the business model canvas and the lean canvas is that the business model canvas was developed for well-established businesses to track their efficiency and evolution through time. Startups are the most common users of lean Canvas for product launches.
The business model canvas is popular among entrepreneurs. It’s a risk-detection tool that’s adaptable, intuitive, and value-driven. That’s why it’s commonly referred to as a one-page business plan. The canvas is divided into nine areas, each of which must be filled with specific company information.
About Uber
In the business realm, Uber is a well-known name. Millions of business owners and entrepreneurs have been motivated by extraordinary success, and the trend is expected to continue. This California-based ride-hailing service, which was founded in 2009, has ushered in a huge change by igniting the on-demand economy.
From its humble beginnings, it has come a long way from a basic idea of allowing customers to hail a cab with a single tap to being the world’s largest ride-sharing firm. Uber currently controls over 68% of the total ridesharing market in the United States.
Uber statistics in 2021
According to statistics, Uber undertakes around 1.44 billion rides each quarter. Uber has raised $25.2 billion in fundraising, has over 100 million active customers, 4 million Uber drivers, and a net worth of $95.67 billion. So far, Uber’s success has inspired millions of business owners and entrepreneurs.
The aggregator business model was first introduced to the world by Uber. It operates on a multi-sided platform business strategy that serves as a link between riders and drivers. Simply put, Uber has a two-pronged business model. While it enables clients to hire a taxi with a simple click, it also enables cab drivers to complete their rides on time and safely.
Customer segments
You must determine your most significant customer to whom you are providing value. The persona method aids in the creation of an imaginative portrayal of user categories. There are two types of Uber users: drivers and riders. Each one caters to a specific group of people that are interested in what Uber has to offer.
The first group i.e. drivers are:
Full-time job seekers
Generate extra income
Love to drive
Looking for a flexible work environment
The second group i.e. Users are:
Don’t own cars
Don’t know how to drive
Looking for comfort & luxury
Looking for cost-effective transportation services
Each persona has unique challenges or prerequisites that your product or service can address, and you must specify these in the value proposition section. List as many jobs as feasible that correspond to the needs of your target customer segments.
For drivers, it’s the ability to work flexible hours and earn more money, while for passengers, it’s the ability to pay with credit cards and cheaper prices. Decompose this part into specific chores to be done, customer pains and gains, and relate them to your product value using the value proposition canvas.
Value proposition or benefits Uber offers are:
To drivers:
Ease in getting started
Opportunity to earn
Ease in accessing more passengers
Flexible working schedules
Get paid online
To customers:
Minimum waiting time
Reduced transportation costs
Cashless rides
Safety & security
Upfront pricing
Channel
The communication unit that entrepreneurs use to contact customer segments is referred to as a channel. If you offer your products through a website, that is one of your business model canvas channels. Search engines, social media, and even word-of-mouth marketing are examples of this.
Uber’s channels include:
Website
Smartphone app (android & IOS)
Social media
Google Adwords
Media coverage
Word of mouth
Relationship with customers
The way you interact with customers is defined in this section. Customer interactions included follow-up and feedback after the sale. If you connect with users through a call center or a Chabot, specify it here.
Uber maintains its customer relationship through:
Social media
Customer support
Rating, reviews & feedback system
Revenue streams
You must define the methods by which your company obtains funds in the revenue streams section. They’re usually derived from customer segmentation and value proposition mapping. Uber passengers, for example, use their credit cards to pay for their rides. Uber makes money by charging a commission for each ride. Other revenue streams could include billable add-ons, subscriptions, premium accounts, and so on.
Uber’s revenue streams are:
Car rides per km/mile basis
Surge pricing
Brands like Uber X, SUV, etc.
Divisions like Uber Eats, etc.
Advertising & marketing
Key activities
Now comes the difficult part, key activities cover everything you need to do to make your company work with digital products. This entails continuous product development and marketing. Recruiting, advertising and other such activities are part of these operations.
If you provide certain services, this may include information that can help you improve your capabilities. When filling the key activities portion of the business model canvas, keep in mind the other sections you’ve already completed.
Uber’s key activities are:
Platform development & enhancement
Marketing & customer acquisition
Sales promotion
Hiring drivers
Customer support
Manage driver payouts
Communicate with customers, drivers
Key resources
The assets you require to run your organization at max potential are known as key sources. Uber is based on a sophisticated technological platform. It also needs drivers to support its value proposition. Staff and expertise are heavily relied upon by service-oriented businesses.
Uber’s key resources include:
Network of drivers & riders
Digital platform (website & apps)
Technology talent
Advanced Algorithms & Data Analysis
Brand image
Key partners
You must define any external stakeholders who can contribute to your business in the key partner section. The development of tech platforms can be driven by Uber investors. Drivers can be hired with the help of recruiting partners.
Uber’s key partners are:
Drivers
Investors & venture capitalists
Technology partners
Commercial partners
Payment processors
Map API providers
Lobbyists
Cost structures
You should be able to tell what you spend your money on based on your cost structures. If your enterprise grows, you must also mention future costs. This area includes expenses such as hardware procurement, software development, and rental services.
Attributes that make the cost structure of Uber are:
Customer acquisition costs
Legal & settlement costs
Insurance costs
Research & development
Lobbying & compliance
Platform maintenance
Infrastructure cost
Customer support
After you’ve created your business model canvas, the next step is to analyze it. You have a comprehensive view of what’s going on in your company and can spot bottlenecks. Make sure to share it with stakeholders so that the content may be improved. Also, don’t cling to the canvas’s original version as it is a flexible document.
Uber, like other successful startups, did not become well-known overnight. Their success may be traced back to greater business model innovation, which provides clients with better services at reduced prices. Almost everyone appreciates the services they provide. Uber has transformed mobility for billions of people across the world by arriving on time, conveniently, and safely.
FAQ
Who is the founder of Uber?
Travis Kalanick and Garrett Camp founded Uber in 2009.
Who is the CEO of Uber?
Dara Khosrowshahi is the current CEO of Uber
What is the revenue of Uber?
The revenue of Uber was 1,113.9 crores USD in 2020.
Ola cabs is an Indian ride-hailing platform that was founded in 2010 by Bhavish Aggarwal and Ankit Bhati with a mission to offer easy travel for millions of Indians. It is India’s largest ride-sharing service app with a market share of $6.5 billion.
Foodpanda is a Germany-based online food delivery platform which is owned by Delivery Hero. Foodpanda currently operates with 20 brands in 50 countries around the globe and has its headquarters in Berlin, Germany.
Foodpanda’s business in India was procured by Ola for all offer arrangements in December 2017. The total Amount Invested by Ola in Foodpanda was around $40-$50 million.
TaxiForSure.com
TaxiForSure is an aggregator of vehicle rentals and cabs for people to get an effectively available, reliable, and dependable taxi ride. They work with different taxi managers and empower them with innovation to guarantee that people get taxi rides. As the name suggests, TaxiForSure.com promises a sure taxi ride.
The Banglore-based company was acquired by Ola Cabs in 2015. After the acquisition of TaxiForSure.com, Ola gained a massive lead over its biggest rival, Uber, and boosted its revenue. Ola has invested around $200 million in this startup
Ridlr
Ridlr is an Indian public transporting and ticketing app used for intra-city travel founded in 2012. Ridlr permits travelers to get ongoing data about the different modes of travel. It also books tickets and tokens through the application via online payments. Ridlr has a firm connection with BEST (Brihanmumbai Electricity Supply and Transport)
Since Ridlr has strong connections with BEST and Ola always wanted to be the biggest transporter, Ola cabs made its second acquisition in this public transport ticketing app. Ridlr secured funding of over $25 million from Ola in 2018.
This was a big achievement for Ola since it always wanted to expand its business beyond extensive ride-hailing and get into public transport as well.
Geotagg is a startup founded by IIT Madras graduates, zeroed in on giving systems in the field of Intelligent Transportation Systems. Geotagg has designed a GPS-based public information system specifically for Indian traffic scenarios. Ola, the country’s biggest online taxi aggregator, is hoping to solidify its client base by venturing into related vehicle organizations including transport administrations, carpooling, and bike taxis.
Qarth
Qarth, which runs a versatile installments application called X-Pay, is Ola’s second investment in the mobile payment space. Ola has acquired mobile payments organization Qarth to encourage its wallet administration Ola Money dispatched in November 2015.
Ola consistently is searching for digital cash move administrations for its Financial Arm Ola Money. It will assist buyers to pay using the digital wallet for both food and grocery. You can not only use Ola Money for making payments for Ola rides, but it can also be used on other online platforms like Lenskart, Oyo Rooms, Saavn, and Zopper.
FAQ
What are the Startups funded by Ola?
The startups funded by Ola are TaxiForSure, Geotagg, Qarth, Foodpanda and Ridlr.
Who is the founder of Ola?
Bhavish Aggarwal, Ankit Bhati founded Ola cabs in 2010.
Is Ola an Indian company?
Yes, Ola is an Indian ridesharing company founded in 2010 by Bhavish Aggarwal and Ankit Bhati.
Shubham Kumar
