Ride-hailing app Ola has raised $500 million led by private equity giants Temasek and Warburg Pincus ahead of an imminent IPO, the company stated on Friday. Ola founder and CEO Bhavish Aggarwal also has invested in the current round of funding.
The fundraise comes at a time when Ola's ride-hailing business has been majorly hit due the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic. Ola did not disclose its valuation, which could be lower than earlier because it has been battered by the COVID-19 pandemic. It is also not clear when it plans to go public.
"Over the last 12 months we have made our ride-hailing business more robust, resilient and efficient. With a strong recovery post lockdown and shift in consumer preferences away from public transportation, we are well positioned to capitalise on the various urban mobility needs of our customers," said Bhavish Aggarwal, Chairman and Group CEO, Ola.
Meanwhile, Ola is ramping up its focus on electric mobility as it plans to roll out electric scooters soon. Aggarwal recently said the company will start the production of its electric scooters soon. Ola Electric is a separate entity which has the backing of Tiger Global, SoftBank as well as Temasek.
This is among the largest investments in the Indian consumer internet space by these funds, a statement said. Ola continues to scale up across various categories and geographies in its ride-hailing business, it added.
Ola has previously talked of a possible listing as well. An IPO will help Ola investors like SoftBank, Tiger Global and Steadview Capital to exit or partially sell their stake in the company to return funds to their shareholders.
Founded in 2011 by Bhavish Aggarwal and Ankit Bhati, Ola offers services in India, Australia, New Zealand and the UK. It competes with Uber in these markets as well.
“They (Ola) are the leading mobility platform and one of the biggest consumer internet platforms in India with a robust and fast-growing business. We look forward to collaborating with Bhavish and the team in the next phase of Ola''s growth,” Vishal Mahadevia, Managing Director and Head of India at Warburg Pincus, said.
