Ola raises $1.1b from Tencent, SoftBank

bengaluru — Leading cab aggregator Ola on Wednesday said it raised $1.1 billion (Rs71.5 billion) in a latest funding round from venture firms led by Tencent Holdings, a leading Chinese internet firm.

“Our investors like SoftBank and other US-based financial investors have participated in this round of funding,” said the company in a statement. Ola is also in talks with other investors to raise an additional $1 billion with new and existing investors.

An Ola spokesperson told IANS that the company had raised $500 million in November 2015 from investment management firm Baillie Gifford, China’s largest taxi-hailing services firm Didi Kuaidi and its investors Falcon Edge Capital, SoftBank, DST Glob and Tiger Global.

Ola will also benefit from Tencent’s expertise in the country’s mobility market.

Then Mumbai-based Ola expanded its operations in March 2015 by acquiring the city-based TaxiForSure competitor for $200

We will invest the fresh funding in supply, technology and innovations Bhavish Aggarwal, Ola co-founder and chief executive

million in a cash-cum-stock deal.

“We will invest the fresh funding in supply, technology and innovations to build the country’s growing transportation needs,” said Ola co-founder and chief executive Bhavish Aggarwal.

The company will also use artificial intelligence and machine learning to solve the country’s mobility problems and offer affordable transportation.