Ola, an India-based ride hailing service backed by corporates Didi Chuxing, SoftBank and Tencent, has added $11.4m in series J funding from investors including DIG Investment, according to Paper.vc.
Deshe Holdings also participated in the latest tranche, as did Samih Abdel Rahman and Hussam Khoury. The latter two are the co-founders of investment firm Jabbar Internet Group, but appear to have provided the cash in a private capacity.
Founded in 2010, Ola operates a ride hailing app that covers both private drivers and metered taxis. The service is available across India, the UK, Australia and New Zealand.
Ola has also expanded into tangential services, such as mobile payments, a credit platform, food delivery and a public transport ticketing app. It spun out an electric vehicle-focused unit, Ola Electric Mobility, earlier this year.
Ola has confirmed approximately $542m in series J funding so far, having most recently added $300m in funding from automotive manufacturers Hyundai and Kia in March 2019.
Private investor Sachin Bansal previously injected $92m in funding in February 2019, the same month that Lyon Assets and J3T Ventures backed a $15.3m tranche together with individual investors Raymond Cahnman, Tina Price and Steven Price.
Steadview Capital had supplied $74m in January 2019, after Ola secured $50m from Sailing Capital and China-Eurasian Economic Cooperation Fund in September 2018.
The round had an initial goal of $780m, though Inc42 has since reported the target had been increased to $2bn.
Ola has raised some $2.6bn in funding to date. Internet group Tencent led a $1.1bn round in 2017 that featured internet and telecoms conglomerate SoftBank, Falcon Edge Capital, RNT Capital Advisors and Tekne Capital Management.
Ride hailing provider Didi Chuxing took part in a $500m series F round in 2015 together with SoftBank, Baillie Gifford, Falcon Edge, Tiger Global Management and DST Global.
The company’s existing investors also include Accel, Matrix Partners, Sequoia Capital, JS Capital, Parkwood Bespin, ABG Capital, Fii Ltr Focus Fund and Vanguard Group.
