Ola, a Bengaluru-based ride-sharing platform, announced a $500 million funding from the Singapore government’s investment firm Temasek and Plum Wood Investment Ltd, a subsidiary of Warburg Pincus, a multinational private equity fund focusing on growth funding before Ola’s Initial Public Offering (IPO). Bhavish Aggarwal, Ola Co-Founder, and CEO will also participate in the funding round.
Temasek and Warburg bought stakes valued at $500 million in this funding round from two existing Ola stakeholders. According to sources, Tiger Global and Matrix Partners India, which holds 13-15% of Ola’s ownership, announced they had liquidated their stakes. Ola, Temasek, and Warburg Pincus declined to say how much the latest funding valued the mobility platform; Ola’s recent funding round valued the company at less than $5 billion.
Warburg Pincus’ Plum Wood, Temasek’s MacRitchie, Fort Canning, and Ola’s founder Bhavish Aggarwal each filed two separate proposals with the Competition Commission of India to invest in the startup. According to the filings, the investment signifies a solid opportunity for MacRitchie and Fort Canning to contribute and participate in the long-term expansion of the Indian taxi aggregator sector.
Although Plum Wood acquires a minority stake in Ola, founder Bhavish Aggarwal is strengthening his stake in the company in the leadership and affairs of the Ola-parent firm ANI Technologies. Back in 2018, Temasek also pumped in $225 million in the company. Ola also raised $3.8 billion over 25 rounds before today’s announcement.
The taxi aggregator startup Ola currently offers its services across over 100 Indian cities. During the last decade, she has grown its business overseas, including Australia, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom. According to reports, Ola had around 32 million monthly active customers in India in June, increasing from roughly 26 million in May. At the same time, the company’s prime competitor Uber handles over 22 million users in India, slightly higher than 18 million in May. , The startup also claims to have around a million driver-partners on its platform.
Although, the coronavirus outbreak has harmed the company’s ride-sharing business, while the demand for its food operations and financial services is booming. Ola has also invested Rs 2,400-crore to construct an electric vehicle manufacturing plant, the world’s biggest two-wheeler production facility.
The Bengaluru-based startup is also planning for its Initial Public Offering. However, no timeline has been disclosed. According to insiders, Ola seeks to go public within the next few years, focusing on the Indian market. The company’s goal is on creating institutions that are self-sufficient, lucrative in the long run. Analysts believe it will aim for a valuation of around $12 billion when it goes public.
