India’s Ola Electric, the dedicated EV unit of ridesharing company Ola, has reportedly reached unicorn status after a recent round of funding valued the e-mobility arm at $1 billion.
Ola Electric has raised $250 million from SoftBank, as a Series B financing round ended up with the unit earning that coveted valuation, TechCrunch reports.
Ola, which itself became a unicorn in 2015, is Uber’s chief ridesharing rival in India — a country that plans to order all ridesharing companies to convert 40% of their fleets to electric by 2026.
It’s one of a number of electric initiatives being looked at by India, with another considering making all two- and three-wheelers electric by 2025.
This all seems to put Ola in a decent spot moving forward as it beefs up its EV push. Ola CEO Bhavish Aggarwal tweeted about the company’s partnership with SoftBank founder and CEO Masayoshi Son:
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
Ola only spun off Ola Electric as a separate unit in March of this year, announcing $56 million in funding at the time.
Shortly after that, Hyundai Motor Group announced a $300 million investment in Ola itself, as Hyundai and Kia plan to build EVs for India, develop charging infrastructure in the country, and collaborate on fleet vehicles, as well.
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