Indian Multinational ridesharing giant Ola has raised US$500 million (about Rs 3,733 crore) from Temasek and Warburg Pincus ahead of its first public offering. The startup’s CEO and co-founder, Bhavish Aggarwal, will also be venturing an undisclosed amount in his capacity, stated the startup on July 9, 2021.
The fundraise is among the highest capital investments in the Indian consumer online space by these funds, a statement said. Ola continues to scale up across various categories and geographies in its ride-hailing market, it added.
Following its fundraising in 2019 from Steadview capital estimated at $6 billion, Ola witnessed its valuation cut down by more than half by the U.S.-based venture firm Vanguard Group as of June 2020. The latest investment would get the overall funding by Ola to more than $4 billion to date.
What the CEO has to say
Ola Chairman and Group CEO Bhavish Aggarwal said, “We’ve made our ride-hailing business more strong, resilient and effective over the last year. With heavy recovery post lockdown and a change in consumer liking away from public transportation, we are well-positioned to benefit from the several other urban mobility demands of our customers”.
Aggarwal continued that he looks forward to collaborating with the fresh partners in the “next phase of growth”.
Ola noticed its profits plunged to 95% throughout the initial months of the Covid-19 lockdown in 2020. This pushed the company to lay off approximately 1,400 people from its ride, monetary services, and food industry, it had said in a note to its operators. Aggarwal, in the notice, had said the prediction ahead for the startup is “very unclear and uncertain”, and the influence of this dilemma is “definitely going to be long-drawn”.
The funding round, though, is still anticipating approval from the Competition Commission of India. That’s because certain branches or private equity funds managed by Warbug Pincus have advances in other companies that are involved in partnerships related to services offered by Ola and group firms.
About the Investment
Plum Wood will procure a minority share in Ola, while founder Aggarwal is to expand his allocation to extend further his engagement in the management and affairs of ANI Technologies, the competition regulator stated. Ola said in the CCI application that the venture would stock it with the necessary financial resources to persist as an important and competitive player in the cab gathering sector.
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