India-based ride hailing company Ola has established an electric vehicle-focused spinout called Ola Electric Mobility and equipped it with $56m in funding, TechCrunch reported today.
Tiger Global and Matrix India have contributed to the funding round. Other investors were not named.
Ola Electric Mobility will focus on the entire electric vehicle ecosystem, including charging solutions, batteries and infrastructure for commercial electric cars to operate at scale. It will be led by Anand Shah and Ankit Jain, who previously headed Ola’s connected car platform.
Ola Electric Mobility has partnered a range of unnamed original equipment manufacturers and battery producers to collaborate on product development.
Ola itself is in the process of raising a $1bn series J round at a valuation of approximately $5.7bn. The company’s shareholders include internet company Tencent, telecommunications conglomerate SoftBank and ride sharing services provider Didi Chuxing.
Shah said: “The first problem to solve in electric mobility is charging: users need a dependable, convenient, and affordable replacement for the petrol pump.
“By making electric easy for commercial vehicles that deliver a disproportionate share of kilometres travelled, we can jumpstart the electric vehicle revolution.”
