Connect with us

Funding

Ola To Raise Fresh Funds From SoftBank And Others

Published

on

Ola Raise Fresh Funds From SoftBank,Startup Stories,Latest Business News 2017,Inspirational Stories 2017,Ola Cabs Raise From Tencent,Ola Cabs News,Indian industrialist Ratan Tata,Ola CEO

Homegrown taxi hailing startup Ola has secured $2 billion in new funding from SoftBank Group Corp., and Tencent Holdings Ltd. These fresh funds will help the taxi aggregator fight its fiercest rival in India, Uber Technologies Inc.

Bloomberg reported, this funding round is backed by a venture capital fund jointly run by Indian industrialist Ratan Tata, the investment arm of the University of California and various U.S. institutional investors. The company’s valuation after the funding round is not clear as the round is not yet completed and the total amount raised may vary. However, the cab aggregator saw a steep decline in its valuation from $ 6 billion last year to around $ 2.5 billion this year.

These fresh funds will help Ola build both its supply of vehicles and drivers to maintain the upper hand in the $10 billion Indian market. This sub round of funding was led by the Chinese Internet giant Tencent, with an investment of $ 450 t0 $ 500 million. However, SoftBank, which is supposed to invest close to $ 1 billion in the company, has set terms for Ola to receive the second part of the planned $ 2 billion investment. Ola will only receive the additional funds once it delivers on the goals the Japanese investor has set for the company.

This round of investment marks the second largest funding round in an Indian startup after both SoftBank Vision Fund and Tencent invested a total of about $4 billion in Flipkart this year. These fresh funds come at a time when global rival Uber, is recovering from a management shakeup including a surprise announcement by former CEO Travis Kalanick.

Ola’s co founders Bhavish Aggarwal and Ankit Bhati, have also joined Indiatech.org, an industry body formed solely to fight for local companies to battle against ‘deep pocketed’ global competitors. Led by Flipkart founder Sachin Bansal, this lobby group will represent the interests of local ventures for favorable laws in the digital commerce market space.

Neither Ola nor SoftBank have responded to queries regarding the newest investment.

Continue Reading
Advertisement
Click to comment

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Funding

Flick TV Secures $2.3M to Revolutionize India’s Micro-Drama Streaming Scene

Published

on

Flick TV StartupStories

Flick TV, India’s first mobile-focused OTT platform dedicated to micro-dramas, has secured $2.3 million in seed funding led by Stellaris Venture Partners, with participation from Gemba Capital and Titan Capital. Founded in early 2025 by Kushal Singhal, Pratik Anand, and Sanidhya Mittal, the platform aims to address the growing demand for high-quality, short-form storytelling tailored for mobile consumption. Unlike traditional user-generated short video platforms, Flick TV produces professionally shot, under-five-minute dramas across genres such as romance, thrillers, and slice-of-life—each crafted for vertical viewing to suit India’s rapidly expanding mobile internet audience.

The newly raised capital will be used to scale up content production, with plans to launch over 100 original titles, enhance the platform’s streaming technology, and expand offerings into four regional languages. Flick TV is also investing in generative AI and advanced workflows to streamline scripting and production, aiming to combine creative excellence with operational efficiency. The founders bring deep expertise from previous roles at ShareChat, EloElo, Meesho, and Pocket FM, positioning the company to bridge the gap between creator agility and cinematic storytelling in India’s nascent micro-drama ecosystem.

Industry observers see Flick TV as a frontrunner in India’s next entertainment wave, which is expected to be mobile-native, emotionally engaging, and built for short attention spans. With the micro-drama market projected to reach $5 billion in India over the next five years—mirroring the $7 billion success in China—Flick TV is poised to set new standards for premium, binge-worthy short-form content and redefine streaming for the modern Indian viewer.

 

Continue Reading

Funding

Imarticus Learning Acquires MyCaptain for INR 50 Crore to Boost Non-Tech Upskilling

Published

on

My Captain

Imarticus Learning, an IPO-bound professional education firm, has acquired Bengaluru-based edtech platform MyCaptain for INR 50 crore in a cash-and-stock deal. This marks Imarticus’s fourth acquisition in four years and is aimed at expanding its presence in non-tech career training, especially across India’s Tier-II and Tier-III cities. MyCaptain, which has over 500,000 learners and a revenue of ₹27 crore for FY25, specializes in creative and entrepreneurial fields, with 60% of its users from smaller cities.

 

With this acquisition, Imarticus will bring MyCaptain’s employability bootcamps in digital marketing, design, and content to its 20+ classroom centers in 16 cities, blending online and offline learning. MyCaptain will operate as a fully-owned subsidiary, and all 250 of its employees will join Imarticus, expanding the combined workforce to over 850. The move supports Imarticus’s goal to reach five million learners by FY28 and deepen its offerings in non-tech domains.

Continue Reading

Funding

Ex-100X.VC Partners Launch 247VC, Announce INR 250 Crore Fund for Seed-Stage Startups

Published

on

StartupStories

Former 100X.VC partners Yagnesh Sanghrajka and Shashank Randev have launched a new venture capital firm, 247VC, unveiling a maiden fund with a target corpus of INR 250 crore (about $30 million). The SEBI-registered Category II AIF includes a base of INR 200 crore and a INR 50 crore greenshoe option, and is focused on backing 30 seed-stage startups across India over the next three years.

 

247VC will target high-potential founders in sectors like deeptech, enterprise tech, consumption, and Industry 5.0, with initial cheque sizes ranging from INR 3 crore to INR 4 crore and follow-on capital for top-performing companies. The fund has attracted prominent early backers, including Sachin Tagra (JSW Ventures), Vivek Mathur (ex-Elevation Capital), and Shailendra Majmundar (Johns Hopkins University).

Sanghrajka and Randev, who together have invested in over 200 startups previously, aim to support ambitious founders building for scale and innovation, especially in emerging and underexplored markets. The launch comes as seed-stage investing gains momentum in India, with average cheque sizes rising despite a cautious funding environment.

 

Continue Reading
Advertisement

Recent Posts

Advertisement