Ola Electric secures $300-million funding at $6-billion valuation
Electric scooter maker Ola Electric has secured $300 million (about Rs 2,500 crore) in its latest funding round, which will push up its valuation to $6 billion. The company had raised $200 million at a valuation of $5 billion in January 2022. The latest round is led by a leading sovereign fund company and has received an overwhelming response from other investors, the sources said, adding that the paper work for the deal will be finalised in a few weeks.
In the previous deal, Ola Electric had raised $200 million from investors like Tekne Private Ventures, Alpine Opportunities Fund, and Edelweiss. The company has so far raised nearly $900 million in multiple funding rounds.
The money from the latest deal will be used by the company to immediately ramp up its capacity of electric two-wheelers from 0.5 million to 2 million per annum. The funds will also help the firm to set up an advanced cell chemistry battery plant, for which it is already eligible for incentives under the production-linked incentive scheme. An electric passenger car facility is also in the works and may come to fruition some time next year.
The company has ambitious plans — it is looking at hitting cumulative sales of 1 million by the end of this year (currently, its 300,000 e-scooters are running on the roads), besides launching its electric motorcycle in the second half of this year. Also in the works is its most inexpensive electric scooter, which will be available from July, at a price of Rs 84,999, which is expected to push up its sales in a big way.
