Ola Electric Mobility, Ola’s electric vehicle arm, is set to raise funds from Hyundai Motors India and Kia Motors, according to a filing made with Competition Commission of India (CCI). Kia and Hyundai previously invested $300 million in ANI Technologies, Ola’s parent company in March 2019.
As per an Economic Times report that reported this, the filings reveal that both these deals are linked. The filing states that as part of the transaction with ANI Technologies, Kia and Hyundai also propose to acquire a minority stake in Ola Electric.
Ola Electric Mobility has already raised funds from SoftBank Vision Fund and Matrix Partners India. An angel investor, Arun Sarin, former CEO of Vodafone had also participated in the funding round that was held this March. Ola Electric Mobility’s valuation has jumped four-fold from $250 million then to $960 million now.
The hint that the investments being planned by Hyundai would include the electric mobility arm too was evident from the statement put out by Ola and Hyundai at the time of the March investment. At the time, the company had said that it will be working with Hyundai and Kia on “new mobility, fleet solutions and electric vehicles”.
The involvement by the South Korean company will go beyond just investing funds in the business. They would get involved with the drivers in training them to handle the electric vehicles and in helping them get finance for buying the vehicles too. Hyundai has already made an investment in the startup Revv, that deals in self-drive rental cars.
Ola Electric Mobility has plans to concentrate on the three-wheeler segment keeping the Indian market requirements in view. Out of an ambitious plan to put 1 million vehicles in the electric mobility space, 10,000 electric autorickshaws are proposed to be inducted in Nagpur.
The company is also trying to first put in place the necessary charging infrastructure for the electric vehicles before they are plied on the roads.