With $74 Mn round from Steadview, Ola becomes 2nd most valued Indian startup

Homegrown ride-hailing company Ola has raised $73.97 million in a fresh round led by existing investor Steadview Capital.

In October, media reports suggested that Ola was finalising a $100 million deal with the Hong Kong-based hedge fund while Flipkart founder Sachin Bansal was also expected to take part in the deal.

However, the latest regulatory filing did not confirm the Bansal's participation in the latest round that concluded on Wednesday.

According to TechCircle report, the fresh capital infused by Steadview has pushed the valuation of the SoftBank-backed company to $5.7 billion. Steadview comes almost after four years of leading $400 million Series E round in the Bengaluru-based firm.

Importantly, Ola has surpassed Oyo's valuation ($5 Bn) in this round. This makes it the second most valued startup from India after digital payments juggernaut Paytm.

The development comes after SoftBank's strong interest to invest in Ola while founder Bhavish Aggarwal is looking to involve other investors in this round to restrict the increasing stakes of the Masayoshi Son-led investment behemoth.

Industry experts say that Aggarwal's decision to keep Softbank at bay is quite apt to safeguard co-founder's voting rights. On the other hand, Ola founders along with MacRitchie, who sought CCI approval to increase their stake in parent entity ANI Technologies, has got the final nod from the competition watchdog.

For Ola, the year 2019 started on a good note. Earlier this month, it said that it will issue 9,684 preference shares to pick up over Rs 14 crore from Chinese scooter making company Eternal Yield International.

Of late, Ola is looking to foray into medicine delivery segment and was reportedly in talks with Myra Medicine for a possible acquisition. The firm had already entered scooter rental segment through investment in scooter-sharing platform Vogo and may leverage the platform for the same.