Ola shut its UK, Australia and New Zealand ride-hailing operations to focus on India

Ola is an Indian ride-hailing company operating in hundreds of cities with a range of options including two-wheelers.

Ola expanded internationally in 2018 to the UK, Australia and New Zealand. Through the pandemic it and rival Uber slowed Indian expansion and worked on unit economics; the two explored merging but never agreed, and both publicly insisted they had no interest in partnering.

By 2021 Ola was valued at $7.3 billion, backed by SoftBank, Temasek, Tiger Global and Warburg Pincus. Spin-out Ola Electric filed paperwork late in 2023 to raise $662 million from an Indian IPO, with Ola's own filing to follow. Uber chief Dara Khosrowshahi told the Economic Times his app's India market share had never been higher and that rivals were 'distracted by shiny, new efforts and IPOs'.

In April 2024 Ola said it would shut its overseas ride-hailing business 'in its current form' in the UK, Australia and New Zealand, citing 'immense opportunity for expansion in India', where it operates in hundreds of cities.

The exit came six years after Ola entered the UK, Australia and New Zealand, and ahead of a planned IPO filing that follows Ola Electric's $662M listing.

Ola and Uber had both slowed Indian expansion during the pandemic to fix unit economics; Uber claimed its highest-ever India market share as Ola refocused.

The company framed the shutdown as prioritization — 'immense opportunity for expansion in India' — rather than a failure of the overseas operations.

Merger talks with Uber never produced a deal, leaving domestic scale as the only IPO-ready asset.

Overseas markets a startup can't fund to leadership become a liability at IPO time: Ola traded a three-country footprint for a focused India story when public investors want a path to profits.

As of April 9, 2024, Ola said it would operate ride-hailing only in India 'in its current form', across hundreds of cities and multiple transport options including two-wheelers, while preparing to file for an IPO once Ola Electric — seeking $662 million — completed its listing. Uber publicly positioned itself as 'undistracted' and fully focused on Indian mobility. The two companies had explored merging in recent years without reaching an agreement.