Ola to raise Rs 14 Cr strategic investment from China's scooter maker

Amidst trying to fight back huge investments by SoftBank and raising another $1 billion from other new and existing investors, the ride-hailing major Ola has been in talks with Eternal Yield International to participate in the round.

As per a resolution passed by Ola in a meeting of the Board of Directors, the company will issue 9,684 preference shares at the price of Rs 14,603 each and pick up over Rs 14 crore from the Chinese company.

Ola is looking for new investors while simultaneously working against receding control to SoftBank in the company. For this purpose, the company has assured investments from the likes of Sachin Bansal. Two months ago, Steadview Capital also put in $100 million while Temasek Holdings bought $250 million worth secondary shares.

Since cab-hailing business has been slowed down, Ola is making re-entry into foodtech business, grocery and medicine delivery. The firm is eyeing to raise a mega round to expedite these verticals and ramp up global expansion.

Investment from Eternal Yield International is more of strategic capital for Ola. The Bhavish Agarwal-led group has recently ushered into scooter rental space with making a $100 million investment (mix of equity and debt financing) in scooter sharing startup Vogo.

Vogo provides scooters on rent for short one-way trips with over 200 pick up points across Bengaluru and Hyderabad.

Eternal Yield International is a Chinese company headquartered in Jinhua, Zhejiang that supplies electric and gasoline scooters, electric bicycles, and other sports products. The Eternal's scooters and e-bikes seem to be obvious synergy for the ride-hailing major.

This information was sourced from Financial Express and Deccan Herald.