Ola Electric Raises $200 Mn At $5 Bn Valuation; Plans Venturing Into 4W EV

Bhavish Aggarwal-led Ola Electric has completed its $200 Mn round at a valuation of $5 Bn. The round saw the participation of Tekne Private Ventures, Alpine Opportunity Fund, and Edelweiss among others. Inc42 also exclusively reported that Paytm’s Vijay Shekhar Sharma and Bollywood brother-sister duo Farhan and Zoya Akhtar have joined Ola Electric in the latest round of funding.

Inc42 had previously reported that the startup was raising $200 Mn from existing investors and some US-based bluechip tech funds. The round was expected to complete in October 2021; the usage of which was aimed towards the production of electric motorbikes, mass-market scooters and electric cars.

Similar to its last fundraise of $150 Mn at a $3 Bn valuation in September 2021, the current funds will be used to bring Innovative products to more two-wheeler categories including bikes as well as in four-wheelers such as cars”, Aggarwal said this in a statement.

The round comes on the back of Ola Electric’s failed promises to deliver its electric scooters named S1 and S1 Pro. Inc42 had earlier spoken about how the ongoing chip shortage will push back the delivery dates for Ola’s scooters.

Testament to the chip shortage, Ola’s super factory, named FutureFactory, is operating at much below full capacity and seems to have been prioritising the higher-priced S1 Pro model.

“A vast majority of our customers have chosen the S1 Pro, we’re prioritising its production and will be making the S1 variant only in late 2022,” Aggarwal had tweeted post the delay. The funds are also aimed at pushing Ola’s production for its e-scooters.

Since its launch on September 16-17, Ola claims to have sold $150 Mn worth of electric scooters. While the startup did not reveal the number of e-scooters sold, it must be around 90K-95K considering that Ola Electric announced its S1 at an ex-showroom price of INR 1 Lakh and its top variant S1 Pro at INR 1.3 Lakh.

With the newer fund, the startup plans to push its production to full capacity at its all-women led FutureFactory. It also plans to launch globally, while the timeline for the same is still ambiguous.

According to Tofler, Ola Electric recorded a revenue of INR 2.1 Cr (approx $280K) and a loss before taxes of INR 7.1 Cr (approx $945K) in FY19. It is to be noted that the startup was still undergoing research and development and planning for its now-launched FutureFactory.

Its IPO-bound sister company, Ola Cabs, on the other hand, has announced that it has crossed pre-covid levels in terms of GMVs and recovery from battering the second wave was three times faster than the first wave in March-July last year.

Aggarwal, who also leads Ola Cabs, had hinted at a potential initial public offering (IPO) for the company in FY22. ANI Technologies had in FY19 reported revenue of INR 2155 Cr (approx $285 Mn), with a loss of INR 1069 Cr (approx $140 Mn) before taxes.

Recently, Inc42 also reported that Ola Electric in an EGM on December 22, 2021, increased its authorised share capital from the existing INR 22.2 Cr to INR 3,825 Cr. Expanding authorised share capital is one of the early steps before converting into a public company and filing DRHP with the market regulator SEBI.