Ratan Tata backs India taxi platform Ola

The investment follows the company's $400 million Series E round of funding which closed in April. The round, led by DST Global, valued the business at $2.4 billion.

Ola is not the first tech start-up to get backing from the Indian magnate. Tata previously backed e-commerce platform Snapdeal, and also piled cash into Chinese smartphone maker Xiaomi in April.

"It is an honor as well as a huge endorsement for us and reflects Ola's commitment towards the future of mobility in India," said Bhavish Aggarwal, CEO and co-founder of Ola, in a statement.

Ola's other investors include SoftBank, Matrix Partners, Tiger Global Management, Steadview Capital, Accel Partners, Singapore's GIC Private and Falcon Edge Capital.

In March, the company acquired industry rival TaxiForSure for $200 million in cash and stock that added Helion Venture Partners, Bessemer Venture Partners, and Blume Ventures to its investor roster.

The company now claims to operate in over 100 cities with a network of 200,000 drivers. Ola is expected to use the new capital to take on its last serious competitor in the India, Uber. The US company is building its presence in country and recently appointed Amit Jain, formerly an advisor with TPG Capital, as president of Uber India.

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• Topics
• Technology
• South Asia
• Consumer
• Expansion
• India
• Venture
• Growth capital
• TMT
• Consumer