Ola Electric in Talks to Raise at Over $2.75 Billion in Financing Round Led by Falcon Edge Capital
Reportedly, Ola Electric, an Indian electric two-wheeler manufacturer, is in advanced talks to raise between $250 million to $500 million. The funds raised in the new financing round will be used to scale its electric vehicle manufacturing business in the South Asian market.
Falcon Edge Capital is in advanced talks to lead the round. The global alternative asset manager values Ola Electric between $2.75 billion to $3.5 billion (up from $1 billion in its previous fundraise in 2019).
The talks about the financing round come amid Ola, ride-hailing giant and the parent firm of Ola Electric, is looking to file for an IPO. Recently, the firm signed up a few bankers and raised $500 million. Now, later this year, the company is looking to file for the IPO.
However, the terms of the deal are not final yet. The Bengaluru-based firm is looking to raise as much as $1 billion, the person said. The matter is not final and things might change.
Earlier this month, Ola Electric launched Ola S1, its first electric scooter in India which was priced at $1,350 or 99,999 Indian rupees.
Earlier this month, in a report, analysts at Bernstein wrote to clients, “Ola is the best product in the market currently with features significantly better than peers. Incumbents, despite all their resources, have launched products that appear as another variant of an ICE product and lack the punch. We have in general been specifically disappointed with both Bajaj and TVS on this front.”
“While startups such as Ather have made significant efforts on the product, the steep pricing, significantly slower pace of manufacturing scale-up, restricted launch in only a few cities earlier were the key drivers for weak sales. The crucial differentiators for Ola are the software-based features, range, peak speeds, and acceleration (fastest EV scooter now), boot space, and color options.”
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