According to two sources with direct knowledge, Singapore's Temasek led a US$140 million funding round in India's Ola Electric at a valuation of US$5.4 billion, the e-scooter maker's most recent funding before its IPO.
In accordance with the first source, the investment round has concluded, and Ola will receive the funds within a week, though there will be another round of fund raising before filing papers for an up to US$1 billion IPO planned for late 2023.
Ola Electric, founded by Bhavish Aggarwal and backed by Japan's SoftBank Group, has a 32% market share in India's e-scooter market, competing with Ather Energy and companies such as TVS Motor and Hero Electric.
As per industry data, Ola, which was valued at $5 billion last year, sold approximately 95,000 e-scooters between April and August 2023. According to Reuters, it had an operating loss of US$136 million on revenue of US$335 million in the fiscal year ended March 2023.
The Indian government has stated that it wants electric variants to account for 70% of two-wheeler sales (including motorcycles) by 2030, up from 14% currently.