Date: October 30, 2023. — Ola Electric has announced that it has raised about $385 million in a funding round comprising both equity and debt. The round was led by Temasek, a Singapore-based investment company. It also saw participation from the State Bank of India (SBI), India’s public sector bank.
The company said that the funds will be used to expand its EV business, which includes launching electric motorcycles and cars. The company also plans to set up India’s first lithium-ion cell manufacturing facility in Krishnagiri, Tamil Nadu. The facility, dubbed as the Ola Futurefactory, will have an initial capacity of 5 gigawatt-hours (GWh) in phase I. This capacity will be scaled up to 100 GWh at full capacity. This will make it one of the largest battery factories in the world. It will be capable of producing enough cells to power 10 million two-wheelers per year.
In addition, the business intends to launch its electric motorcycle lineup by the end of next year, followed by electric cars in the future. Bhavish Aggarwal, founder and CEO of Ola Electric, stated that the company’s mission is to make EVs accessible and affordable to everyone, as well as to expedite the transition to sustainable mobility.
“With this round of funding from Temasek and SBI, we are one step closer to achieving our goals. We are grateful for their support. We look forward to working with them to create a greener and cleaner future,” he said.
Ola Electric’s valuation has reportedly soared to around $5.4 billion post-allotment, according to startup data intelligence platform TheKredible. This is a significant jump from its previous valuation of $5 billion in January last year. The company has raised more than $1 billion in funding so far from various investors, including SoftBank, Tiger Global, Matrix Partners, and others.
Ola Electric’s main rival in the Indian EV space is Ather Energy, which also produces electric scooters and had raised $108 million from its existing backers GIC and Hero MotoCorp last month. Other players in the market include Bajaj Auto, TVS Motor Company, Hero Electric, and Ampere Vehicles.
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