Shared mobility space seems to be the order of the day, with Ola and Hero MotoCorp chairman Pawan Munjal leading $7 Mn round in scooter rental startup Vogo Automotive. The round also participation of existing investors including Matrix Partners India, Stellaris Ventures and few angel investors.
Vogo Automotive, which was founded in 2016, currently offers rental scooter services in Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Manipal and Mysuru. The startup claims that as of today it tops up 5,000 orders every month and plans to add another 1,000 points Bengaluru and Hyderabad.
Interestingly, during last few weeks investment community seems to be taking lot of interest in startups that are trying to address India’s commuting problems. Vogo’s latest funding comes on the back of three similar companies getting funded by investors.
This includes bike sharing startup Metro Bikes that raised $12.2 million only few days back. Besides, inter-city bus providers Zipgo and Shuttl recently raised big funding rounds from Essel Group and Amazon respectively.
Investment experts claim that commuting in current urban congestion is a huge pain point that several investors see as a lucrative market waiting to explode.
Meanwhile, Ola is on aggressive mode
Ola certainly seems to be in a thick of things, with India’s largest cab hailing company trying all the possible strategies to increase its market valuation and market share. Analysts claim that Ola’s recent acquisition and investment spree is basically aimed at increasing the overall valuation of Ola’s parent company ANI Technologies Pvt. Ltd; something that should help the company in raising more funds from investors.
Ola was in news recently for possible acquisition of food tech startups Holachef and also FreshMenu. On the onset it looks that the company is going all out to encourage the growth of its newly acquired food delivery business.
Separately, Ola recently announced the launch of its second international operations in UK. The company has already launched operations in selected cities of Australia, where it has received favorable reviews.