Ratan Tata, Chairman Emeritus of Tata Sons, has invested in the newly-formed Ola Electric Mobility, as part of its Series A round of funding, Ola has said, adding that the investment was in Ratan Tata's personal capacity.
Tata is also an early investor in ANI Technologies Pvt Ltd, Ola's parent company.
“Tata's investment in Ola Electric is a significant endorsement of the company's approach to developing an electric mobility ecosystem, including innovations in charging infrastructure, swapping models, and market-appropriate products,” the company pointed out.
Ola Electric is currently running several pilots involving charging solutions, battery swapping stations, and deploying vehicles across two, three and four-wheeler segments. Investment details are still under wraps.
Ratan 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," said Ratan Tata, Chairman Emeritus of Tata Sons.
Ola Electric Mobility Pvt Ltd raised around Rs400 crore from several of Ola's early investors, including 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 programme in Nagpur.
"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," Bhavish Aggarwal, co-founder and CEO, Ola, said.