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September 18, 2018
5 minutes read

Ola Cabs gets $50 million round at $4.3 billion valuation

Ola Cabs Indian ridesharing and mobility services company Ola Cabs has raised $50 million in funding from from 2 new…

Ola Cabs

Indian ridesharing and mobility services company Ola Cabs has raised $50 million in funding from from 2 new Chinese investors, Sailing Capital and the China-Eurasian Economic Cooperation Fund (CEECF) with a valuation of $4.3 billion as disclosed in regulatory documents scoured by Paper.vc and reviewed by Indian publication Mint.

Both investors will hold a combined stake of more than 1% in Ola according to Mint’s report.

This funding comes as at when Ola is taking on expansion into new markets with announced plans to launch soon in the U.K in addition to launching its service in Australia early this year.

Ola is reportedly in talks to raise as much as $1 billion even after hefty funding from the likes of Softbank and Tencent to boost its cash hoard as it takes on costly competition in the ridesharing market.

Ola Cabs co-founder and CEO Bhavish Aggarwal

Ola Cabs

The firm has raised well over $2 billion across several rounds with a recent $225 million notable investment from Singaporean investor Temasek which provided exits for early investors and employees in addition to providing more capital for the company.

Armed with this vast capital, Ola has been reported to be aiming to reduce the power of its largest investor Softbank as part of the reasons for taking on new investment with the company’s founders Bhavish Aggarwal and Ankit Bhati previously blocking a move by Softbank chairman and founder Masayoshi Son to purchase shares from U.S. based hedge fund Tiger Global, Ola’s second largest investor.

Nevertheless, Ola’s expansion moves have been in the limelight with its acquisition of public transit ticketing service Ridlr April this year, Large investments into its FoodPanda delivery service and moves into more regions among other notable efforts.

Another notable startup in the Asian and ridesharing space is Indonesian unicorn Go-Jek reported to be raising up to $2 billion in a new funding round expected to close in weeks.