© Reuters. FILE PHOTO: Ola Electric’s S1 Air e-scooters are pictured inside its manufacturing facility in Pochampalli in the southern state of Tamil Nadu, India, August 15, 2023. REUTERS/VarunVyas Hebbalalu/File Photo
By Aditya Kalra and Aditi Shah
NEW DELHI (Reuters) – Singapore’s investment firm Temasek led a $140 million funding round in India’s Ola Electric at a valuation of $5.4 billion, two sources with the direct knowledge said, the latest funding for the e-scooter maker before its initial public offering.
The investment round has been closed and Ola will be receiving the funds within a week’s time, though there will be another round of fund raising before it files papers for an up to $1 billion IPO planned for late 2023, said the first source.
Ola did not respond to a Reuters request for comment, while Temasek, which is an existing investor in Ola Electric, declined to comment.
Ola Electric, founded by Bhavish Aggarwal and backed by Japan’s SoftBank (TYO:) Group, has become India’s e-scooter market leader with a 32% share, competing with Ather Energy as well as companies such as TVS Motor and Hero Electric.
Valued at $5 billion last year, Ola sold around 95,000 e-scooters during April-August 2023, industry data showed. It recorded an operating loss of $136 million on a revenue of $335 million in the fiscal ended March 2023, Reuters reported.
The Indian government has said it wants electric variants to account for 70% of two-wheeler sales – which also include motorcycles – by 2030, a huge jump from 14% currently.
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