Flipkart co-founder invests $91m in India’s Ola
Sachin Bansal, a co-founder of Indian e-commerce giant Flipkart, has invested INR6.5 billion ($91 million) in ride-hailing platform Ola.
Bansal’s investment is part of an ongoing Series J round, according to a release, and represents the largest commitment to Ola so far by an individual investor in his personal capacity. Additional participants in the round include Hong Kong-based Steadview Capital, which invested INR5.2 billion last month according to regulatory filings cited by Indian media.
The Series J round reportedly values Ola at around $6 billion, making it India’s third most valuable internet start-up behind Flipkart and Paytm. Ola is currently pursuing overseas expansion: it launched operations in Australia, New Zealand, and the UK last year, and is currently present in over 125 cities with more than a million drivers available through the mobile app.
“Sachin is an icon of entrepreneurship and his experience of building one of India’s most respected businesses from the ground up is unparalleled,” said Bhavish Aggarwal, co-founder and CEO of Ola. “I personally look forward to learning from Sachin’s journey, his mentorship and guidance, as we look to build one of the most impactful global businesses out of India.”
Ola was established in 2011 and has attracted considerable interest from financial and strategic investors. Recent years have seen growing activity from Chinese backers: last year the company raised a $50 million funding round from Sailing Capital and the China-Eurasian Economic Cooperation Fund, a vehicle backed by the Chinese government, and Tencent Holdings invested $400 million in Ola in 2017.
Didi Chuxing, Ola’s Chinese counterpart, has also become a significant partner to the company. In addition to investing $500 million in Ola’s Series F round in 2015, Didi has formed a strategic partnership with Ola, Southeast Asia’s Grab, and US-based Lyft, aimed at countering their common rival Uber.
Sachin Bansal founded Flipkart in 2007 with Binny Bansal – no relation – and left the company around the time of its acquisition by Walmart last year for $16 billion.
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