Ola raises $300 million funds led by Hyundai Motor and Kia Motors to boost EV offering
The riding hail major Ola has announced for raising a fund of $300 million led by South Korean automobile major Hyundai Motor and Kia Motors, a major combined investment by the two firms of the South Korean Hyundai Motor Group, after rounds of investment talks. The strategic investment is part of the Ola firm’s ongoing Series J round of funding, which is estimated at $1 billion.
As part of the collaboration, Ola will develop fleet and mobility solutions, electric vehicles and infrastructure specific to the Indian market with the help of investors. The investment will be jointly made by group firms, Hyundai Motor Company and Kia Motors Corporation and under a tripartite agreement with Ola, the companies will jointly develop the electric vehicles (EVs) ecosystem and fleet services for global markets.
Our partnership with Ola will certainly accelerate our efforts to transform into a Smart Mobility Solutions Provider, said Euisun Chung, Executive Vice Chairman of Hyundai Motor Group in a joint statement.
The partnership also promises to benefit its millions of drivers with financial services like lease and installment payments.
The latest investment round will add firepower to Ola to counter its rival Uber in India. Besides, it will also help Bhavish Agarwal-led Ola to keep SoftBank, which owns 26 percent stake, at bay and keep looking for new investors.
Earlier last month, Bengaluru-based firm had raised Rs 650 crore funding from Flipkart co-founder Sachin Bansal. Ola’s electric mobility arm had recently raised $56 million (Rs 400 crore) from Tiger Global, Matrix Partners, and Sarin Family India LLC.
It has also been reportedly in talks with Mirae Asset for potential investment at the valuation of around $6 billion. So far, Ola has raised $3.8 billion in funding. At present, it is operational in more than 100 cities in India. Last year, Ola forayed the ride hailing markets in the UK and Australia.
The Ola firm aims to bring 1 million electric vehicles and create over two million livelihood opportunities in the mobility ecosystem in the next two years.
On the other hand, this is not the first such a strategic investment by car maker Hyundai. In November 2018, Hyundai had invested $250 million in Grab. Hyundai has already invested in car-sharing start-up Revv also, which had last year raised `100 crore in a new funding round led by the auto major. Revv plans to plans to increase its geographical footprint to 30 cities from 11 cities in India within a year.
Starting this month, Hyundai Motor India has launched a pilot project offering customers to experience its products through a subscription model in partnership with Revv. The initiative will cover six cities - Delhi-NCR, Mumbai, Kolkata, Pune, Bengaluru and Hyderabad. It has also been investing over $1 billion in Sriperumbudur facility near Chennai to manufacture electric cars.
Ola co-founder and CEO Bhavish Aggarwal said the partners will bring to market a new generation of mobility solutions, and constantly expand their range of offerings for consumers. The partnership will offer Ola drivers various financial services, including lease and instalment payments, while vehicle maintenance and repair services are expected to enhance customer satisfaction, it added.
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