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For the first time ever, <keyword id="6354720" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="ola">Ola</keyword> brings ‘Auto-Connect Wifi’ to the <keyword id="2761557" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="ola-auto">Ola Auto</keyword> category. Launched in 2014, Ola Auto allows people to book, track and pay for auto-rickshaw rides through their Ola app. Following the massive popularity of <keyword id="5936524" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="60" keywordseo="ola-auto-connect-wifi">Ola Auto-Connect Wifi</keyword> for the Prime category, Ola had expanded this offering to other categories including Mini, Lux, and Micro. Given that commute in an Indian city is an average of around 40 minutes, ‘Auto-Connect Wifi’ and Ola Play are properties that are distinctive and make the company differentiated from its biggest competitor in the country, <keyword id="1042120" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Uber">Uber</keyword>. By tapping into commute options like Auto for the everyday Indian, Ola is depending on this category to make the difference in the long run. How does it work Wifi connects seamlessly to internet for existing Ola customers as soon as the trip starts. First time users need to connect to the Wifi through a one-time authentication key on their phones and enjoy the seamless auto-connect experience, every time they book a new ride. Piloted in major cities and towns, Wifi internet connectivity will soon be brought to Ola Autos across 73 cities in the country.

Now you can use free ‘Auto-Connect Wifi’ in Auto-rickshaws in India

The last six months saw cab-aggregator company Ola spending much of its time strengthening its core, adding a breadth of services while also bringing on board a global rival of arch competitor Uber as its investor. This has made <a href="http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/tech/tech-news/Ola-takes-its-Micro-service-to-75-cities/articleshow/52006224.cms">Ola</a> take a lead over its competitor Uber, supported by new categories of low-cost and luxury rides. 
 
Not only this, it has also increased focus on customer experience, and not to forget, it brought on board China's largest taxi-hailing service Didi Chuxing as an investor. 
 
It was in February that Ola launched a new lower-fare category and named it Micro, while also expanding to 75 more cities. This also brought a new league of customers to its portfolio, given that at least 75% of 'Micro' customers used air-conditioned taxis for the first time, as told by Ola spokesperson to ET. 
 
Ola, with 550,000 drivers registered on its platform, claims to command 70% of the market, while arch rival Uber says that it’s got a 50% share. While both Ola and Uber differ in their market share claims, none of them has been able to confirm their claims. 
 
"Ola is fully aware that it can't afford to lose market share," Jaspal Singh, founder of transport-focused Valoriser Consultants, told ET. "It will be difficult for them to get it back. Uber has a strong financial platform and is putting money (into India) aggressively. 
 
<a href="http://i.amz.mshcdn.com/3FhgkBZo0e9jngtwg9HnXbMuzSY=/2016%2F03%2F31%2Feb%2FAP_26011809.8a1e0.jpg">Image source</a>

Low-cost and luxury rides aside, Ola now has finance too to give Uber a tough competition

Cab aggregator <keyword id="6354720" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Ola">Ola</keyword> posted a consolidated loss of over Rs 2,311 crore -- about Rs 6 crore a day -- during fiscal 2015-16, on account of heavy advertising and promotional expenses and high employee cost, as per a news report by PTI.The Bengaluru-based firm, which is locked in an intense battle for leadership with US-based Uber, has seen its losses widen about three times from Rs 796.11 crore in 2014-15, Ola said in a filing with the Ministry of Corporate Affairs.<keyword id="2200842" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="ANI-Technologies">ANI Technologies</keyword> -- which runs Ola -- did see its revenues registering a stellar growth at Rs 758.23 crore during 2015-16 compared to Rs 103.77 crore in the previous fiscal.Emails by PTI sent to Ola remained unanswered.<keyword id="2385099" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="Anchal-Agarwal">Anchal Agarwal</keyword>, co-founder of research and analytics firm <keyword id="4159482" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="Tofler">Tofler</keyword> said while the absolute amount of losses have indeed widened, the loss margin has "reduced considerably"."They spent almost Rs 8.5 for every rupee earned in 2014 -15. That number is down to almost Rs 4 for every rupee earned for 2015-16. With the pull-back in incentives etc in recent months, it's possible this has now dropped to levels at par with e-commerce companies that spend roughly Rs 2-3 for every rupee earned," she added.The consolidated numbers include financials of ANI Technologies, Ola Fleet Technologies (leasing business), <keyword id="1062211" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="Serendipity-Infolabs">Serendipity Infolabs</keyword> (Taxi For Sure) and Zipcash Card Service (46 per cent ownership).In August 2016, Ola shut down the TaxiForSure (TFS) business, about 18 months after acquiring the rival for USD 200 million.As per the filing, Ola's losses were widened on account of employee related expenses rising over five-fold to Rs 461.60 crore in the said fiscal from Rs 85.16 crore in 2014- 15. Similarly, Ola expanded its advertising and promotional expenditure to over Rs 437.89 crore in 2015-16 from Rs 99.84 crore in the previous year.Both Ola and Uber have loosened their purse strings to bring more riders and driver partners on board, offering them discounted rides and incentives, in a bid to wrest control of the lucrative Indian market.Over the last few years, the explosion of smartphones in India the world s second largest telecom market in terms of subscriber base has made it more convenient for consumers to book a cab on the go through apps and secure payment options.Companies like Ola and Uber have made booking a taxi ride as easy as a couple of quick taps on the phone screen.Since ANI Technologies is not a publicly-traded company, it is not obligated to disclose quarterly performance. It has raised investments of over USD 1.5 billion from investors, including <keyword id="163404" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Softbank">SoftBank</keyword> Group, Tiger Global, Matrix Partners, Steadview Capital, <keyword id="270604" type="ENTERTAINMENT" weightage="20" keywordseo="Sequoia">Sequoia</keyword> India, Accel Partners US and Falcon Edge.In November, Ola raised about USD 250 million from SoftBank, albeit at a lower valuation of USD 3 billion (compared to USD 4.5 billion earlier). The company's Board has recently approved a proposal to raise another USD 100 million from investors, which it said would be "primarily to fund its expansion plans".Ola, which has a presence in 110 Indian cities compared to Uber's operations in 29 cities, has been aggressively expanding its portfolio of services. It has a number of offerings like Micro (affordable), Mini, Prime (sedan), Lux (luxury), Outstation, Share (shared rides), Auto, Rentals, Shuttle (buses) and e-rickshaw. Ola, which claims to have over 6,00,000 vehicles across cabs, auto-rickshaws and taxis, is also placing big bets on new technologies like electric vehicles to stay ahead of competition

Bleeding bad: Ola roughly spent Rs 4 for every rupee earned during 2015-16

<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image on-image"><a href="http://blog-archive.spoonrocket.com/spoonrocket-blog/spoonrocket-raises-11-million-from-foundation-capital-and-general-catalyst">Spoonrocket</a>SpoonRocket cofounders Steven Hsiao and Anson Tsui</div></div></div>The on-demand economy is starting to show its cracks, and companies are falling apart in an environment where funding is suddenly hard to find and low-to-no margin businesses are facing tighter scrutiny.On Tuesday, Bay Area food delivery food business SpoonRocket <a href="http://blog.spoonrocket.com/post/141093499941/goodbye">closed its doors</a> after it was unable to raise money after more than a week of rumors that the company was looking for a last minute buyer. TechCrunch <a href="http://techcrunch.com/2016/03/15/spoonrocket-shuts-down/">previously reported</a> the shut-down.Rival Sprig took a hard look at the company, but decided to pass on the acquisition, according to multiple sources familiar with the situation. The intellectual property and other company assets didn't justify an acquisition, one person involved said. SpoonRocket didn't employ its delivery drivers, who worked as independent contractors, so they could not be acquired as part of a deal.Sprig did formalize a partnership and money changed hands amidst the shutdown, but that was more of a marketing play to attract SpoonRocket's customers to Sprig, the person added. A memo to SpoonRocket drivers also pointed them to join Sprig, although Sprig's structure of employing drivers means they will have to interview.A Sprig spokeswoman would not comment or acknowledge any acquisition talks, but did confirm the partnership between the two. SpoonRocket did not return multiple requests for comment in the last week."We are partnering with SpoonRocket to invite all of their current servers and delivery staff to interview to become Sprig employees in San Francisco. Our server employees are core to our mission as we continue to grow at a rapid pace in our home city, where we currently serve thousands of meals per day," Sprig's spokeswoman said. New customers coming from SpoonRocket also get a discount as part of the transition.SpoonRocket's shut down comes at a time when the once-hailed on-demand economy is starting to see pivots and moves away from it.Valet company Zirx moved entirely away from parking consumer cars at a push of a button. Its rival Luxe is also starting to ask to schedule car returns instead of making it as easy as hailing an Uber, according to a report in <a href="http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-03-14/on-demand-valet-parking-seemed-like-such-a-great-idea-it-wasn-t">Bloomberg</a>. In the food space, which has been overrun with companies for years, more startups are turning away or shutting down entirely. Uber rival Ola shut down its food delivery arm. Startup GoodEggs closed in several cities. Meanwhile, Uber itself is entering into the competition, adding another well-funded player in an already way too crowded space.SpoonRocket founder Steven Hsiao wrote in the company's goodbye note that the competition amongst startups combined with a bad funding environment lead to the sudden shutdown. "We explored all strategic options till the very last minute but unfortunately, they all fell through," he wrote. <div class="margin-top"> <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/art-critic-robot-has-its-own-taste-2016-2">Scientists made a robot art critic that is able to form its own opinions</a></h3> <div> <div> <div class="ooyala-video-player" data-video-autoplay="false" data-video-id="llb3E5MTE6vIJxQ41EH0lLyy4pYkSXu-" data-player-variable="ooyalapopvideo" id="ooyalaplayer_popvideo" style="width:1280px;height:720px"></div> </div> </div> </div>

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Now you can use free ‘Auto-Connect Wifi’ in Auto-rickshaws in India

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Low-cost and luxury rides aside, Ola now has finance too to give Uber a tough competition

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Bleeding bad: Ola roughly spent Rs 4 for every rupee earned during 2015-16

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All those startups that promised to spoil you rotten are starting to fail

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