Ola raises $330 mn at $3.5-bn valuation

Valuation 30% lower, as SoftBank marked down its investment in the cab aggregator

Ola, India’s largest taxi aggregator, has raised $330 million in fresh funding, at a valuation of about $3.5 billion, from Japanese investor SoftBank and two other existing ones.

The round saw Ola’s valuation dropping 30 per cent from a peak of $5 billion, as global rival Uber significantly stepped up its challenge to the Indian firm. Apart from this, with increased regulatory hurdles, investor confidence in Ola is seen to be eroding.

Ola did not respond to Business Standard’s queries about the funding round, but a SoftBank spokesperson said the company did not comment on “market speculation”.