Ola, the India-based ride hailing service backed by a host of corporate investors, has received Rs 1.5bn ($21m) in funding from Sachin Bansal, the founder of e-commerce marketplace Flipkart, MoneyControl has reported.
The investment was revealed by a regulatory filing that stated it was made as part of an ongoing series J round that a source familiar with the document told MoneyControl is expected to be sized at about $780m.
Founded in 2010, Ola operates the market leading on-demand ride service in India, though it has also expanded into the UK, Australia and New Zealand.
Ola last received funding last week when asset manager Steadview Capital invested $74m at a reported $5.7bn valuation, weeks after scooter vendor Eternal Yield International supplied $2m in equity financing and four months after Sailing Capital and China-Eurasian Economic Cooperation Fund provided $50m.
The company has raised a total of $2.5bn altogether, with internet group Tencent leading a $1.1bn round in 2017 that included telecommunications firm SoftBank, Falcon Edge Capital, RNT Capital Advisors and Tekne Capital Management.
Ride hailing service Didi Chuxing is also an existing Ola backer, as are DST Global, Tiger Global Management, Accel, GIC, Baillie Gifford, Matrix Partners, Sequoia Capital, JS Capital, ABG Capital, Parkwood Bespin, Fii Ltr Focus Fund and Vanguard Group.
