Deal Talk: Ola to raise $200 mn from Microsoft; Paytm Mall ex-COO Amit Sinha's agri tech startup Unnati to raise $8 mn

TechCircle brings you a round-up of technology investment and M&A deals reported from across newsrooms.

Ola

Ride-hailing giant Ola is in advanced talks with tech major Microsoft to raise about $150-200 million in funding, multiple media reports said citing sources.

According to the reports, the deal is likely to be closed in the next 10-15 days.

In 2017, Ola and Microsoft partnered to build a new connected vehicle platform for carmakers across the world. 

Both companies will continue their deep technology partnership in areas like cloud, emerging mobility technology and connected vehicles, reports said.

Ola recently announced it is setting up a research unit in the Bay Area of the US to focus on e-vehicles and connected cars.

This month, it also launched its self-drive car rental service in Bengaluru.

Bengaluru-based Ola, operated by ANI Technologies,  has about 200 million riders on its platform across India, the UK, Australia and New Zealand.

Unnati

Former Paytm Mall chief operating officer Amit Sinha is all set to return to his roots, with plans to raise $6-8 million in a Series A funding round for his agri-tech startup, Unnati, media reports said. 

Sinha left Paytm Mall three months ago and now aims at helping farmers improve productivity through Unnati. 

Unnati will offer low-interest agricultural loans to farmers and will provide a one-stop solution for all farming needs. 

Planning to hit markets next month, Unnati could either enter a small seeding round and then go for a larger series A round, or it can straight away shop for a series A, whichever plays out well, reported MoneyControl citing Sinha. 

Registered in 2017 under the parent name, Akshamaala Solutions, Unnati, also serves as an ecommerce connect for the farmers by helping them source raw materials from local retailers. 

Unnati is currently present in a few villages in Uttar Pradesh and is keen to enter Bihar, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan by the end of this year.