Ola raises $104mn from Ratan Tata-backed fund & Falcon Edge

Cab aggregator Ola has raised $104 million (Rs 670 crore) in a fresh round of funding from the UC-RNT fund and Falcon Edge. Of the total, UC-RNT Fund, a joint venture between Tata and University of California, has pumped in Rs 267.99 crore, while another Rs 402 crore has been infused by Falcon Edge (FO Mauritius I Ltd), as per a regulatory filing by Ola parent ANI Technologies.

The development comes after Ola received board approval to raise about $100 million last month. Ola's last fund raise of about $250 million came from Japanese telecom and Internet major SoftBank at a valuation of $3 billion. At its peak, Ola was valued at $5 Billion in November 2015.

Founded by Bhavish Aggarwal and Ankit Bhati in 2010, Ola has so far raised $1.5 billion including the latest round from marquee investors like SoftBank, Tiger Global and Matrix Partners.

Ola, which is facing tough competition from rival Uber reportedly enjoys market share of around 65 percent with a presence in over 110 cities. That said, Ola continues to bleed on account of heavy advertising and promotional expenses. The company posted a consolidated loss of over Rs 2,311 crore for the year ended March 2016. However, it is also recording a growth in its revenue.

Ola recently announced the roll-out of electric cars on its platform and it is planning to pilot a few thousand electric cars in several Indian cities this year.