India-based ride ordering service Ola has entered talks to raise up to $600m in a series G round that could be led by telecommunications company and existing backer SoftBank, Bloomberg reported yesterday.
The capital is set to come from a blend of new and existing investors, and the round could close by the end of 2016, a person familiar with the matter told Bloomberg, adding that SoftBank planned to participate and could lead the round.
Founded in 2011 as Olacabs, Ola runs a ride hailing platform that stretches across 102 Indian cities, and which includes taxis, auto rickshaws, luxury vehicles and shuttle buses.
The new funding would sustain Ola for roughly 18 months while it fights off a challenge from US-based rival Uber, which is has been reallocating Chinese resources elsewhere in Asia since it agreed to sell its China operation to local market leader Didi Chuxing.
More precisely, Ola would invest the funding in driver recruitment and leasing options as well as geographic expansion.
Ola has raised almost $1.25bn so far and was valued at $5bn in its most recent round, which closed at almost $560m in December 2015.
SoftBank, Didi Chuxing, Baillie Gifford, Falcon Edge Capital, Tiger Global Management, DST Global, Steadview Capital, ABG Capital, Fii Ltr Focus Fund, JS Capital, Parkwood Bespin and angel investor Daniel Neary invested the first $500m before investment management firm Vanguard Group added $57m.
SoftBank invested $210m in Ola in late 2014 at a $1bn valuation before returning for a $400m series E round in April 2015 led by DST Global and also backed by Falcon Edge, Tiger Global, Steadview, Accel Partners and the Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund, GIC.