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India’s homegrown cab hailing company Ola has raised $2 billion from clutch of high profile investors including giants like SoftBank Group Corp and Tencent Holdings Ltd, according to several media reports. Chinese internet juggernaut Tencent has reportedly contributed $400 million in this round. Media reports further claimed that an investment firm co-owned by Indian industrialist Ratan Tata has also invested undisclosed amount in this round.
With this latest funding, Ola’s valuation is believed to have been zoomed to more than USD 3.8 billion. One close source told a news publication that Ola may allot part of the funding to boost electric car segment.
However, so far there has not been any official statement either by Ola or any investors over latest funding report.
Ola is currently locked in a fierce battle with San Francisco based & global cab hailing giant Uber. Although recent surveys claimed that the Bengaluru based cab hailing company is slightly ahead of Uber in terms of market share, but the latter boosts very strong financial muscles owing to deep cash reserves. In fact, Uber over the years has fully capitalized on its deep cash reserves to make a dent into Ola’s market share.
Industry analysts believe that Uber has been compelled to sharpen its focus on Indian market due to recent unceremonious exits from lucrative markets like Russia & China. This fact has only put more pressure on Ola to raise more funds and keep its market share in tact. It has also enhanced the home grown company to adapt innovative strategies such as the recent decision to start bike taxi services across several Indian cities.
