Japan’s Softbank may invest $300m more in Indian ride-hail firm
Japan's Softbank is considering investing up to $300m, in Indian ride-hailing service Ola, according to reports citing people said to be familiar with the matter. Almost two years ago, Softbank invested $210m in Ola, leading a funding round in the ride-hail firm, it also invested $750m in taxi app GrabTaxi in September. Although Softbank refused to comment on the speculation surrounding further investment, SoftBank Group CFO and president, Alok Sama, said recently the company would "continue to support Ola in its fight with US rival Uber".

Japanese telecom and internet major SoftBank Corp will invest $250-300 million (Rs 1,700-2,000 crore) in Ola as it leads a new round of funding in India’s largest ride-hailing app, according to two people directly aware of the matter.“SoftBank is leading the new round and the first tranche will close in a few days,” said one of the sources, adding that SoftBank is looking to commit more capital but Ola wants to control dilution.Last month, SoftBank led a $750-million cash infusion in Grabtaxi, Uber’s competitor in Southeast Asia. The final size of the round is yet to be determined. Ola is looking to raise about $500 million in the financing round, which could go up to $700 million if it is able to get new investors to write large cheques, said these sources.“There will be an external process that will be launched now and Ola will keep the round open,” one of them said.Ola’s valuation in the new financing will remain flat, indicating that the size of the round may not increase dramatically. Ola was valued at about $5 billion when it closed $500 million in funding in November last year. China’s Didi Chuxing and Scottish investment firm Baillie Gifford came in as the new investors then.“Right now the question is more about quality of the business, scale and raising capital than getting a higher valuation,” said a person familiar with Ola’s thinking.Ola and SoftBank did not reply to emails seeking comment. Ola’s imminent fund-raising comes at a time when Uber is stepping up its investments in India, a country which has become the most important market for it outside US after it exited China in July.But closing a new financing round soon will be critical for Ola to continue its fight against Uber, which is one of the world’s most well-financed startups having raised $15 billion in equity and debt.Till now, Ola has raised about $1.2 billion and counts Soft-Bank, New Yorkbased investment firm Tiger Global Management, Russian billionaire Yuri Milner’s DST Global and venture capital firm Matrix Partners India as its largest shareholders. The company was founded by IIT Bombay grads Bhavish Aggarwal and Ankit Bhati.The question will now be if Uber and Ola can continue to sustain their high burn rates. While Ola was losing $40 million a month in the first half of the year, it has since reduced incentives for drivers and increased fares, as ET reported last week.Uber is currently burning about $30 million in India, which will go up to $45-50 million as it ramps up expansion across cities and products. While Uber has ramped up spending in India, Ola has been able to retain its market leadership in India so far. Besides lower-cost alternatives like Ola Mini, the firm has also launched luxury car rentals and subscription services to attract premium customers. It has also been strengthening its supply of drivers and cars through the leasing business.