Ola raises $50mn funding from New York-based hedge fund

India's largest cab-aggregator Ola has raised additional $50 million funding led by US-based hedge fund Tekne Capital Management. The funding round also saw the participation from Ratan Tata’s venture fund RNT Capital Advisors and US hedge fund Falcon Edge as per a report by ET.

Citing a source, the report said that the company is still continuing its investment talks for the current funding round with various investors, including Coatue Management among others. Tekne Capital is a technology-focused hedge fund founded by Beeneet Kothari. The additional capital will push Ola’s valuation to about $3.65 billion.

With an eye for future, Ola has been focussing on electric vehicles. Recently, SoftBank’s chairman and CEO Masayoshi Son promised to gift around 1 million electric vehicles to Ola over the next five years. The startup recently launched India’s first multi-modal electric vehicle project at the Nagpur Airport Complex, making Maharashtra the first state to provide various incentives to e-taxis.

Recently, Ola raised Rs 670 crore from Falcon Edge Capital and Ratan Tata’s RNT Capital Advisers. Ola’s cash burn rate has reduced as the company trims incentives to drivers. Ola now charges around 20 percent per trip. While arch-rival Uber has its presence in just 29 cities, Ola is presently active in 110 cities.