India Rideshare Provider Ola Cabs Raises $315 Million From Funders Led By DST Global

By Harichandan Arakali @bangalorejourno h.arakali@ibtimes.com on April 09 2015 8:24 AM EDT

Bhavish Aggarwal, CEO and co-founder of Ola, an app-based cab-service provider, is seen in Mumbai, India, on March 3, 2015. Reuters/Shailesh Andrade

ANI Technologies, which operates Ola Cabs, India’s largest cab-hailing rival to Uber Technologies, has raised $315 million in fresh funding. The deal was reported by Tofler, which tracks financials of private companies.
This is the seventh round of funding for Mumbai’s Ola and the investment was led by Russian billionaire Yuri Milner’s DST Global, which put in about $200 million, Tofler said, citing the Indian startup’s filings with the country’s Ministry of Corporate Affairs.
Other investors include New York hedge fund and private equity company Tiger Global Management and venture capital firm Accel Partners. Last year, Ola
received $210 million from Japan’s SoftBank, which has backed Uber’s rivals across Asia, and followed that up with buying smaller rival TaxiForSure in Bangalore, India’s tech capital.
Ola is in a race to expand its driver network in the country at a time when Uber -- largely shut out of China by strong local competitors -- has identified India as its biggest market outside the U.S.
Ola is also adding new services such as an Uber Fresh-style food delivery, and is reportedly in talks with retailers to deliver groceries.