Bangalore, India -based Ola Electric Mobility Pvt. Ltd raised $56 million from existing investors New York City’s Tiger Global Management and San Francisco’s Matrix Partners’ subsidiary in India.
Ola Electric Mobility is a division of cab aggregator Ola which plans to launch 10,000 three-wheeled and other electric vehicles on Indian roads this year, and a million such automobiles by 2022.
The current business of Ola Electric Mobility includes deployment of charging and battery-swapping networks for commercial electric vehicles. Ola has already partnered with several original equipment manufacturers and battery makers, and intends to work closely with the automotive industry to create solutions for electric vehicle operations.
Speaking about this deal, Anand Shah, who heads the electric mobility business said, “The first problem to solve in electric mobility is charging: users need a dependable, convenient, and affordable replacement for the gas station.”
In December 2018, the Indian government announced an initiative known as Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of (Hybrid and) Electric Vehicles (FAME). Under FAME, the government will provide up to $1.4 billion to subsidize sales of electric and hybrid vehicles. FAME, which aims at curbing pollution while lowering dependence on traditional fossil fuels, provides further boost to this industry.
