India-based cab-hailing service Ola is going to make a strategic investment of $100 million in scooter sharing startup Vogo. Plus Vogo is planning to raise an additional $10-$12 million as part of its Series B funding from new investors like Kalaari Capital and existing investors, according to LiveMint’s sources. This deal is expected to be closed soon.
Ola’s investment will enable Vogo to add at least 100,000 new scooters to its fleet. The supply deal is expected to be financed between a mix of equity and debt. And Ola will become the largest shareholder of Vogo with a stake of at least 30%. The $100 million investment is going to be paid out in tranches.
With this funding round, it would also give Vogo a supply advantage without having to raise additional capital in the future. And Vogo’s scooter sharing services will be integrated into Ola’s mobile app.
“Our investment in Vogo will help build a smart multi-modal network for first-last mile connectivity in the country,” said Ola co-founder and CEO Bhavish Aggarwal in a statement. “Vogo’s automated scooter-sharing platform, backed by Ola’s expertise in this space can help transform our cities.”
Founded by Padmanabhan Balakrishnan , Anand Ayyadurai and Sanchit Mittal in 2016, Vogo raised an undisclosed Series A round of funding led by Ola with participation from Matrix Partners, Hero MotoCorp Chairman Pawan Munjal, and Stellaris Venture Partners. However, rumor has it that the Series A round was somewhere in the ballpark of $6 million to $7 million.
“Vogo has seen rapid growth in the last five months, growing over 10x in scale. We are thrilled to have Ola join us on this journey and help turbocharge our growth by providing us access to strategic and capital efficient supply as well as access to millions of customers on its platform in the time to come,” added Ayyadurai. “As we enter into our next phase of growth, we look forward to executing our synergistic vision of the future: smart and sustainable mobility for all.”
