COVID-19: Ola Launches Fund to Support Drivers, Bhavish Agarwal to Forego A Year Salary

Ride-hailing major Ola on Friday launched a fund to support auto-rickshaw, cab, Kaali-Peeli and taxi drivers across India amid the ongoing 21-day lockdown.

Besides, Ola co-founder Bhavish Aggarwal will forgo salary for one year that will go towards the fund.

Launched under Ola Foundation, the 'Drive the Driver Fund' will support the drivers through contributions from the Ola group, investors and via a crowdfunding platform for citizens and other institutions, a statement said.

"The proceeds of the fund will help towards the welfare and upliftment of drivers and their families who have been affected by the restrictions due to the COVID-19 pandemic," it added.

Ola Group and employees are contributing an initial capital of Rs 20 crore to the fund and through the crowdfunding campaign, the intent is to raise up to Rs 50 crore.

"The mobility industry has been brought to a grinding standstill during these stressed times, and the driver community has been finding it hard to pay for their family expenses without a source of income," the statement said.

Ola's initiative aims to bring together multiple stakeholders in the ecosystem such as customers, investors and partner organisations to participate in supporting millions of drivers and their families across India, it added.

This initiative will focus on key areas such as emergency support and essential supplies. In due course, Ola Foundation will also take up initiatives to support drivers in areas such as aid for children's education, among others.

"Millions of drivers and their families have been affected, and even a humble contribution can have a lasting impact on their wellbeing. We invite all the stakeholders of the mobility industry to join us in every way you can, and support the people who move us in this difficult phase," an Ola spokesperson said.

Ola has undertaken a number of measures, including launching a special COVID-19 insurance cover exclusive for their driver partners and their spouses.

These steps are aimed at helping driver-partners and customers through the coronavirus outbreak.

The number of positive coronavirus case in India has touched 724 till date. PTI SR

Ola Raises Fresh $11 Mn from DIG Investment, Deshe Holdings and Founders Jabbar Internet Group

Within a week after Ola Electric, the EV unit of cab aggregator Ola, had raised ~ US$250 million funding from SoftBank, Ola's parent company ANI Technologies has raised $11 million in fresh funding from a set of new investors including Swedish DIG Investment Ab, US-based Deshe Holdings and the two founders of Dubai-based Jabbar Internet Group, reported Economic Times, citing business intelligence platform Paper.vc.

Regulatory filings accessed by Paper.vc showed that the latest funding is part of Ola’s ongoing Series-J round. Ola has said it plans to raise close to $1 billion as part of its ongoing fundraising exercise.

Ola has been raising funds in tranches as part of its plan to raise $1 billion in fresh funds. The company had earlier secured $100 million from Sachin Bansal in January this year in its ongoing Series J round, which was also Bansal’s first major investment after his exit from Flipkart.

Two months back, Ola had raised undisclosed amount from Ratan Tata, who is also an investor in Ola.

The Indian cab-hailing firm is also setting up a advance technology center in Silicon Valley of the U.S to develop technologies related to electric/ connected/ autonomous vehicles. The tech center by Ola will be in Palo Alto in the Bay Area and Ola will be the second Indian consumer internet company to launch a technology center in Silicon Valley after Flipkart.

To Avoid Flipkart's Fate, Ola Founders get CCI Approval to Increase Stake in Parent Firm

Competition watchdog, Competition Commission of India (CCI), has announced on Twitter that it has approved a proposal from the founders of ride-share company Ola to enhance their stake in the parent company, ANI Technologies.

“CCI approves acquisition of 6.72% shares of ANI Technologies Pvt. Ltd. by Lazarus Holdings Pte. Ltd,” the tweet reads.

Lazarus Holdings is a Singapore-incorporated subsidy set up by ANI Technologies to be used as an investment holding company.

This comes within a month after Ola had raised $50 million from two new investors, Hong Kong-based Sailing Capital and the China-Eurasian Economic Cooperation Fund (CEECF), at valuation of $4.2 billion.

Last month, Ola founders - Bhavish Aggarwal and Ankit Bhati, along with MacRitchie Investments sought CCI’s approval to increase their stake in the cab aggregator by buying shares from some of the existing shareholders. By this, Ola founders are trying to avoid the fate of FLipkart's Bansals and the Snapdeal founders, who are also angel investors in Ola.

MacRitchie Investments is an indirectly wholly-owned subsidiary of Singapore-based investment company Temasek Holdings. According to reports, Temasek has invested over $200 million in the Bengaluru-based company.

Ola, which competes against US-based Uber counts among its investors names like Softbank, Tiger Global, Tencent and Sequoia Capital, among others mergers and acquisitions beyond a certain threshold require the approval of the CCI.

According to media reports, a few angel investors such as Rehan Yar Khan and venture capital (VC) investors, Accel India, Bessemer Venture Partners, Helion Venture Partners, and TaxiForSure founders Aprameya Radhakrishna and Raghunandan G and some Ola employees will be selling some of their shares to the founders. A few of the VCs will be making a partial exit from the company.

Last year, Ola amended its AoA (article of association) to strengthen founders Bhavish and Ankit’s rights in the company, which gave them the power to veto any further stake buy from SoftBank, which is the company’s largest shareholder.

In May this year, it was also reported that ANI Technologies Pvt. Ltd is planning to set up a holding company that will own different business units, including its core cab business, food delivery app Foodpanda and the nascent businesses of electric vehicles (EV) and the international unit. This is very similar to what Google had done by incorporating Alphabet Inc as its parent company.

Ola, which also counts VCs such as Matrix Partners India and Tencent as other major shareholders in the company, recently raised $50 million led by Hong Kong-based Sailing Capital and the China-Eurasian Economic Cooperation Fund (CEECF). This fundraising round takes Ola’s valuation to $3.7-4.3 billion. With this funding, both investors now hold roughly 1.17% in Ola’s parent ANI Technologies.

Last week, IndianWeb2 also reported that Sachin Bansal, the co-founder & former CEO of Flipkart, is in talks to invest $100 million in Ola. This will be from the $1 billion Sachin made from selling his entire 5.5% stake to Walmart and is said to have pocketed $1 billion from the deal.

Source - The News Minute

Ola-owned Foodpanda Acquires Shut Down Foodtech Firm Holachef

Foodpanda, the Ola-owned online food ordering and delivery startup, has acquired Mumbai-based foodtech startup Holachef Hospitality Pvt. Ltd, which had shut down operations in July-August this year, for an undisclosed amount.

Foodpanda will take over Holachef’s employees and kitchen equipments. Founders of Holachef, Anil Gelra, Gaurav Srivastava and Saurabh Saxena, will join the leadership team at Foodpanda.

The acquisition however is believed to bring bring no returns to its investors of Holachef, which include InnoVen Capital, Kalaari Capital, India Quotient, SIDBI Venture Capital and Ratan Tata. Holachef raised a total of $9.6 million in funding over eight rounds since 2015. The last funding raised by Holachef was in February this year when it raised Rs.20 lakhs in Series B round.

A media report in Augst has suggested that Kalaari Capital and India Quotient had already resigned from the board of directors of HolaChef earlier this year.

HolaChef acquisition comes within two months after Mumbai-based on demand delivery firm Scootsy was acquired by food delivery firm Swiggy, which is Foodpanda's biggest rival in India besides Zomato.

Notably, Holachef is Ola’s second acquisition within a year, since it had bought Foodpanda from Germany’s Delivery Hero in December last year.

HOlaChef was founded in 2015 by Saurabh Saxena, Anil Gelra and Gaurav Srivastava. Essentially, HolaChef used to curates chefs ranging from executive chefs to amateurs and allows them creative freedom through their signature dishes. Before shutting its operation three months back, the company was managing the logistics of the food (packaging, storage & delivery).

[caption id="attachment_126758" align="aligncenter" width="620"] HolaChef Founders (L-R)- Saurabh Saxena & Anil Gelra
Image - BusinessStandard.com[/caption]

With this acquisition, Foodpanda will foray into cloud kitchens and also plans to launch its own food brand across categories. The company claims to have a network of over 1 lakh delivery partners and access to over 150 million customers.

“We aim to build India’s largest cloud kitchen network that will be a major step in further elevating the food experience for our customers,” said Pranay Jivrajka, chief executive at Foodpanda. “I am delighted to welcome the Holachef team on board and look forward to their joining us in our mission of delivering superior food experiences to a billion Indians.”

"We are delighted to join hands with Foodpanda to accelerate our mission. We are thrilled to be part of Foodpanda’s and Ola’s passionate team that is truly changing the food experience for a billion Indians,” said Saurabh Saxena, co-founder and chief executive at Holachef.

Meanwhile, an another online food delivery player, FreshMenu is reportedly in talks to raise $25-30 million from new and existing investors.

Ola-owned Foodpanda Acquires Shut Down Foodtech Firm Holachef

Foodpanda, the Ola-owned online food ordering and delivery startup, has acquired Mumbai-based foodtech startup Holachef Hospitality Pvt. Ltd, which had shut down operations in July-August this year, for an undisclosed amount.

Foodpanda will take over Holachef’s employees and kitchen equipments. Founders of Holachef, Anil Gelra, Gaurav Srivastava and Saurabh Saxena, will join the leadership team at Foodpanda.

The acquisition however is believed to bring bring no returns to its investors of Holachef, which include InnoVen Capital, Kalaari Capital, India Quotient, SIDBI Venture Capital and Ratan Tata. Holachef raised a total of $9.6 million in funding over eight rounds since 2015. The last funding raised by Holachef was in February this year when it raised Rs.20 lakhs in Series B round.

A media report in Augst has suggested that Kalaari Capital and India Quotient had already resigned from the board of directors of HolaChef earlier this year.

HolaChef acquisition comes within two months after Mumbai-based on demand delivery firm Scootsy was acquired by food delivery firm Swiggy, which is Foodpanda's biggest rival in India besides Zomato.

Notably, Holachef is Ola’s second acquisition within a year, since it had bought Foodpanda from Germany’s Delivery Hero in December last year.

HOlaChef was founded in 2015 by Saurabh Saxena, Anil Gelra and Gaurav Srivastava. Essentially, HolaChef used to curates chefs ranging from executive chefs to amateurs and allows them creative freedom through their signature dishes. Before shutting its operation three months back, the company was managing the logistics of the food (packaging, storage & delivery).

[caption id="attachment_126758" align="aligncenter" width="620"] HolaChef Founders (L-R)- Saurabh Saxena & Anil Gelra
Image - BusinessStandard.com[/caption]

With this acquisition, Foodpanda will foray into cloud kitchens and also plans to launch its own food brand across categories. The company claims to have a network of over 1 lakh delivery partners and access to over 150 million customers.

“We aim to build India’s largest cloud kitchen network that will be a major step in further elevating the food experience for our customers,” said Pranay Jivrajka, chief executive at Foodpanda. “I am delighted to welcome the Holachef team on board and look forward to their joining us in our mission of delivering superior food experiences to a billion Indians.”

"We are delighted to join hands with Foodpanda to accelerate our mission. We are thrilled to be part of Foodpanda’s and Ola’s passionate team that is truly changing the food experience for a billion Indians,” said Saurabh Saxena, co-founder and chief executive at Holachef.

Meanwhile, an another online food delivery player, FreshMenu is reportedly in talks to raise $25-30 million from new and existing investors.

Ola Becomes 3rd Most Valuable Startup After Flipkart & Snapdeal

Bengaluru-based Taxi app company Ola has recently raised a funding of $400 million (apprx.Rs 2,500 crore,) from a number of investors.  With this, the 15,600 crore startup has become India’s third-most valuable venture-backed company after Flipkart and Snapdeal. The Taxi app company will invest the newly raised money into expanding into new locations and diversifying into new business areas.  Ola through this move is looking into strengthening its lead in the cab-aggregation market which it had acquired after buying its rival company TaxiForSure in March. The merger now has almost 80 percent share in the cab market.

The company is currently competing with Uber in India.  Although Uber doesn’t have a significant share in the Indian market yet, but being the second most valuable startup in the world valued at $41 billion, it has huge plans for India.

The latest round of funding was joined by New-York based hedge fund Falcon Edge Capital, Singapore’s state investment arm GIC and DST Global along with the company’s existing investors Accel Partners US, Tiger Global, SoftBank group and Steadview Capital.  The company last raised $210 million in October 2014.

"Our growth has been strong and we have a very strong market leadership position, which are key reasons for our investors being so supportive," said Bhavish Aggarwal, founder, Ola in a statement to the Economic Times. Aggarwal has started the firm back in 2011 along with his IIT-Bombay collegemate Ankit Bhati.

According to investor documents accessed by the Economic Times, Aggarwal owned 12 percent in ANI Technologies, the parent company of Ola, and Bhati 5 percent by the end of March.

For Taxi apps in India, the biggest problem is not the market. With the recent Uber rape case in Delhi, Uber and Ola have both been banned in the city and the government hasn’t yet come out with any rules or regulations to govern their services.

According to a statement released by the company on 16^th March, the company will use the raised money to expand its cab aggregation services in about two hundred smaller towns and cities. The company has already expanded to 100 cities in the current year.