Why Ola founder Bhavish Aggarwal turned down a $1.1-billion SoftBank deal

Masayoshi Son struck a preliminary deal to put another $1.1 billion into Ola to boost his stake to more than 40 per cent, according to people familiar with the matter

Startups, when they raise venture money to build their businesses, begin with a Series A round and then proceed through Series E, F or maybe G before going public. The Indian ride-hailing service Ola is a bit unusual: It just completed its Series J fundraising and is marching toward Series K, a letter almost unheard of by researchers that track such things.

What’s going on here is about more than money. Ola co-founder Bhavish Aggarwal is fighting to maintain his independence against SoftBank Group Corp. The Japanese conglomerate, led by Masayoshi Son, was an early backer of Ola, but Aggarwal