Pawan Munjal Family Trust acquires minority stake in Ola Electric

Ola Electric Mobility Solutions, a subsidiary of ANI Technologies-owned cab aggregator Ola, has raised $1 million in from the Pawan Munjal Family Trust, which is owned by motorcycle maker HeroMoto Corp chairman and managing director Pawan Munjal.

The Bengaluru-based company has issued 18 Series B preference shares at Rs39,87,608.54 per share totalling to Rs 7.2 crore (or around $1 million at current exchange rates), regulatory filings showed. On conversion of the preference shares to equity, the trust will hold 0.14% stake in Ola Electric.

Since January 2019, Ola Electric has raised $287 million from investors including venture capital firm Matrix Partners, alternative investments firm Tiger Global Management, Japanese conglomerate Softbank, Ratan Tata’s investment vehicle RNT Associates, former Vodafone CEO Arun Sarin’s family trust and two Seoul headquartered car manufacturers, Kia Motors and Hyundai Motor Company.

Of the $287 million, Ola Electric, in November last year, raised $14.4 million from Kia Motors and Hyundai Motor Company, separate filings show. In October 2019, The Competition Commission of India had approved Hyundai and Kia's $300 million investment in Ola and its electric mobility arm. 

Prior to that in July 2019, Ola Electric raised $250 million from SoftBank. 

Ola Electric, which was earlier a division of Ola, was hived off as a separate entity in April 2018. Ola has partnered with several original equipment manufacturers and battery makers. It intends to work closely with the automotive industry to create solutions for electric vehicle operations.

Last year, Ola Electric had appointed BVR Subbu, former president of South Korean automotive major Hyundai Motors, as a board member.

Parent entity Ola provides services in over 250 cities in India, United Kingdom, Australia and New Zealand, with a network of two million driver-partners. The company intends to bring one million electric vehicles on the road by 2021.

The Bengaluru-based company’s losses narrowed to Rs 1160.27 crore in the financial year ended March 31, 2019, from Rs 2676.70 crore led by its cost optimisation strategy. 

The company’s revenues from its primary operations of ride-sharing services are sourced from commissions that it charges from every transaction made between the driver and user using its app.