Sachin’s Rs 650 crore Ola ride biggest desi startup bet

BENGALURU: Flipkart co-founder

Sachin Bansal

has invested Rs 650 crore, or $92 million, in ride-hailing major Ola in a landmark investment in India’s startup ecosystem where entrepreneurs have said that domestic capital is not available for mature companies.


The investment is the first major move by Bansal after his exit from Flipkart in May last year and cements his partnership with Ola co-founder

Bhavish Aggarwal

. Both have spoken out against how unfettered foreign capital deployed by their global rivals leads to an uneven playing field for local startups.

Bansal has already invested Rs 150 crore in Ola through a primary infusion and the remaining capital will be used to buy shares from existing investors, giving him 2-3% stake. This is part of a bigger funding round for Ola, where the Bengaluru-based company may raise as much as $1 billion, valuing the firm at $5.7 billion. Aggarwal said he will count on Bansal’s big vision and technology experience as there is a “massive disruption” coming up in the ride-hailing space with electric mobility and semi-autonomous driving.

“Sachin is one of the original visionaries of our ecosystem. Sometimes, as an entrepreneur, you need thought partnership and you need outside perspective as to how big this can get, how should you think about what’s right,” said Aggarwal in an interview to TOI. “We want to lead the world and there is no one better than Sachin to partner.”

Bansal’s investment will also give Aggarwal, who has been shoring up protective rights against largest shareholder SoftBank since 2017, another ally among the investors.

Last year, Temasek picked up 4-5% in Ola and agreed to vote with the co-founders. SoftBank is also the largest shareholder in Uber, which is Ola’s main rival.

Bansal sold his 5% in Flipkart for about $1 billion when Walmart bought a 77% stake in the e-commerce company in May last year. The investment in Ola will be more than 10% of his net worth, after paying taxes on sale of Flipkart shares. Bansal’s cheque is also the single-largest investment by an individual in an internet company, followed by Wipro chairman Azim Premji’s investments in Myntra (acquired by Flipkart) and Snapdeal, both of which were around $25 million.

Venture capital investors think that the investment can be a game changer for the ecosystem and the way entrepreneurs think.

“So far, all the Indian founders and funds were solving for companies that suited the thinking for someone sitting in the US or in China, who will fund them. This is the first time we have this level of capital based in India with a local founder, which will change the way we think about startups by not aping western companies,” said Anand Lunia, co-founder of investment firm India Quotient.