Ride-hailing firm Ola on Friday said its electric vehicle (EV) business, Ola Electric Mobility (OEM), has raised `400 crore in a funding round led by Tiger Global and Matrix India. “OEM, a company backed by Ola, has raised a sum of `400 crore led by several of Ola’s early investors, Tiger Global and Matrix India and others, as part of its first round of investment,” a statement said.
OEM was initially established to enable Ola’s electric mobility pilot programme in Nagpur in 2017. Last year, Ola had announced its plan to bring 1 million electric vehicles onto Indian roads by 2022.
The entity has been now spun off with the injection of the fresh funds. The statement said Ola Electric is currently running several pilots to deploy electric vehicles and charging solutions, including battery-swapping stations, electric two-wheeler and three-wheeler services amongst others.
The company will be led by Anand Shah and Ankit Jain, who headed Ola’s connected vehicle platform, it added.
The statement said Ola Electric has already partnered with several original equipment manufacturers and battery manufacturers, and intends to work closely with the automotive industry to create seamless solutions for electric vehicle operations.
“At Ola Electric, our mission is to enable sustainable mobility for everyone. India can leapfrog problems of pollution and energy security by moving to electric mobility, create millions of new jobs and economic opportunity, and lead the world,” Ola co-founder and CEO Bhavish Aggarwal said.
Tiger Global Management partner Lee Fixel said OEM is well-positioned to build the ecosystem for electric mobility. “As Ola’s first institutional investors, we are excited to begin this new journey with Ola Electric and partner in creating yet another impactful mobility business,” he added.
Last month, Flipkart co-founder Sachin Bansal had invested `650 crore in the parent firm, Ola, making it the largest investment by an individual in the company till date. The investment was part of Ola’s larger Series J funding round.
Source: financialexpress.com