Ola pips Oyo Rooms, becomes second most valuable startup
BENGALURU: Ola has regained its number two ranking in the pecking order of India’s most valuable startups after securing $74 million in fresh funding from existing investor Steadview Capital at a valuation of about $5.7 billion.
Ola, which has been in talks to raise at least $1 billion over the past one year, moved ahead of budget-hotel chain Oyo Rooms in terms of valuation and is now only behind digital payments major Paytm.
Last year, Ola had briefly conceded its second position to Oyo Rooms, which was valued at nearly $5 billion following an $800 million fundraise from Softbank and other investors.
Flipkart was the most valuable Indian startup for the longest time, before it was acquired by Walmart last year.
The latest funding infusion is part of the $1 billion round Ola is in the process of raising. Last January, it had raised $1.1 billion in fresh capital at a valuation of $3.5-4 billion from China’s Tencent Holdings Ltd and existing investor, Japan’s Softbank Group Corp. The company had said it was in talks to raise another $1 billion.
According to regulatory filings accessed through data intelligence platform Paper.vc, Steadview Capital received 245,082 preference shares at a subscription price of ₹21.25 per share as part of the series J round. Steadview now holds a 2.61% stake in Ola. The latest funding comes a few months after Ola raised about $50 million at a valuation of roughly $4.3 billion from Hong Kong’s Sailing Capital and the China-eurasian Economic Cooperation Fund (CEECF).
Ola has been fighting several battles over the last several months, including against its largest investor Softbank.
Ola’s Bhavish Aggarwal has been attempting to bring in more capital into the company through new investors to avoid ceding control to Softbank, which currently holds roughly 26% in the company.
The Economic Times had reported in December that Softbank had offered to pump in another $1 billion into Ola.
Meanwhile, the internet start-up has also been shoring up its core cab-hailing business in India against arch-rival Uber Technologies Inc.
As part of its plans, it is looking to aggressively expand its footprint abroad and within India, besides building a strong food-tech business to compete with sector incumbents Swiggy and Zomato.