Tata Group chairman emeritus Ratan Tata has invested an unspecified amount in Ola Electric Mobility to support its ambitions to scale EV deployment in India.
This investment is in Mr. Tata’s personal capacity in the newly formed Electric Mobility company. Ola Electric Mobility Pvt Ltd on Monday announced Mr. Tata’s investment in the company as part of its Series A round of funding.
Mr. Tata is also an early investor in ANI Technologies Pvt Ltd, Ola’s parent company. Mr. Tata’s investment in Ola Electric will bring his deep experience and mentorship to the company’s ambitions to make electric mobility viable at scale, Ola Electric said.
His decision to invest is significant endorsement of the company’s approach to developing an electric mobility ecosystem, including innovations in charging infrastructure, swapping models, and market-appropriate products, it added.
Ola Electric is currently running several pilots involving charging solutions, battery swapping stations, and deploying vehicles across two, three and four-wheeler segments.
Speaking on his investment, Mr. Tata, said, “The electric vehicle ecosystem is evolving dramatically every day, and I believe Ola Electric will play a key role in its growth and development. I have always admired the vision of Bhavish Aggarwal and I’m confident that this will be part of yet another important strategic move into this new business area.”
Bhavish Aggarwal, co-founder & CEO, Ola said, “Mr. Tata has been an inspiration and a mentor to me personally in shaping Ola’s journey over the years. I’m very excited to welcome him on board Ola Electric as an investor and a mentor in our mission of building sustainable mobility for everyone on our planet.”
“He is a visionary who has inspired a generation of entrepreneurs and we are privileged to have his guidance and support once again, as we work towards our goal of a million electric vehicles in India by 2021,” he said.
Ola Electric Mobility Pvt Ltd has raised a sum of ₹400 crore led by several of Ola’s early investors, Tiger Global and Matrix India and others, as part of its first round of investment.
The company was initially established to enable Ola’s electric mobility pilot program in Nagpur. In 2018, Ola subsequently announced ‘Mission: Electric’ to bring 1 million Electric Vehicles on Indian roads by 2021.
