Ola Electric, the electric scooter subsidiary of the Ola ridesharing company, has raised $200 million in its latest funding round.
The new funding means that Ola electric is now valued at $5 billion. In September last year, the company was valued at $3 billion.
“Ola Electric is creating India’s EV revolution and is driving cutting edge manufacturing from India for the entire world,” said co-founder and CEO Bhavish Aggarwal in a statement.
“With Ola S1, the best scooter ever made, we have changed the entire scooter industry and are now looking forward to bringing our innovative products to more two-wheeler categories, including bikes as well as cars.
“I thank the investors for their support and look forward to partnering with them to take the EV revolution from India to the world.”
The Ola S1 scooter, which was revealed in August, costs less than £1,000 but can 56 mph and cover 75 miles on a single charge.
Ola Electric’s rapid growth, however, hasn’t come without controversy. The company’s CEO has been noted for creating a toxic culture in its offices.
According to The Morning Context, “Aggarwal pushes unrealistic deadlines on social media, creating hype and stalling, giving the world the impression that things are much closer to completion than in reality.
“At Ola’s office in Begaluru, he breathes fire, breaks laptops, bashes his head in anger and fires people if the same unrealistic deadlines are missed.”
Ola has also delayed the shipment of the S1 scooter several times, according to Tech Crunch, and “at best”, only a tiny fraction of customer preorders have been delivered.
Investors, however, seem to be unperturbed by this news and continue to throw money at the startup. Tekne Private Ventures, Alpine Opportunity Fund, and Edelweiss, are among the companies investing in the latest round.
Of course, considering that some three-quarters of vehicles on Indian roads are either scooters or motorbikes, there’s still plenty of reason for investors to be bullish about Aggarwal’s coming EV revolution.
Keyword: Ola Electric’s Valuation has Almost Doubled Since September