Ola’s electric vehicle subsidiary Ola Electric has raised Rs 1,725 crores from SoftBank in its Series B funding round, according to corporate filings. The funding came from SoftBank’s SB Topaz (Cayman) Limited and allocated 4,326 shares as a part of this deal. According to an Economic Times report, this round has raised the company’s valuation to $1 billion, making it the latest unicorn in India. Ola Electric has reportedly passed a special resolution to make SoftBank the single largest investor in the company with 22-24% stake. Ola has declined to comment. Ola had launched its electric vehicle arm in March to focus on e-mobility. Since its incorporation, the company has been backed by several investors including Ratan Tata, Tiger Global, Matrix India, Hyundai Motor Group, and Hyundai subsidiary Kia. Celebrating 5 years of strong partnership, looking forward to the years ahead! I’m personally inspired by @masason vision for the future of humanity. Very excited about our partnership to build Mobility & Electric Mobility for India and the world! @SoftBank @Olacabs @OlaElectric pic.twitter.com/JwJDvFKeg4 — Bhavish Aggarwal (@bhash) July 2, 2019 Recent policy changes around EVs Ola’s electric vehicle initiative comes at a time when the central government has been supporting the cab aggregators to turn their fleet into electric vehicles. NITI Aayog recently proposed that only electric vehicles should be sold after 2030. It also proposed that Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) should issue norms for cab aggregators to replace all fuel-run vehicles with electric vehicles by 2030. MoRTH…
