Flipkart co-founder Sachin Bansal invests ₹650 cr in Ola

The country’s largest cab-hailing service provider, Ola, on Tuesday said that it has raised ₹650 crore ($92 million) from Flipkart’s co-founder Sachin Bansal.

The investment is part of Ola’s larger Series J funding round and is in Bansal’s personal capacity as an investor.

“Ola is one of India’s most promising consumer businesses, that is creating deep impact and lasting value for the ecosystem. On one hand, they have emerged as a global force in the mobility space and on the other, they continue to build deeper for various needs of a billion Indians through their platform, becoming a trusted household name today,” Bansal said in a statement.

Last year when U.S. retail giant Walmart acquired a 77% stake in e-commerce firm Flipkart for $16 billion, Sachin Bansal exited Flipkart by selling his stake in the company for a reportedly $1 billion.

Bhavish Aggarwal, co-founder and CEO, Ola said, “His (Sachin Bansal) investment is a huge encouragement for all of us at Ola and our mission to serve a billion people. I personally look forward to learning from Sachin’s journey, his mentorship and guidance, as we look to build one of the most impactful global businesses out of India.”

Last year in September, Ola, which is run by Bengaluru-based ANI Technologies raised $50 million from Hong Kong-based Sailing Capital and the China-Eurasian Economic Cooperation Fund (CEECF). The funding round then valued the company at nearly $4.3 billion. In 2017, Ola raised $1.1 billion from Tencent Holdings Ltd and existing investor, SoftBank Group Corp.

Large funding rounds has almost become a norm in the Indian startup space, particularly by unicorns (or startups with valuation of over $1 billion). Ola’s fund raise comes at a time when the company is aggressively working towards substantiating its lead against rival Uber Technologies in the domestic market and ramping up its presence in overseas markets to create a worldwide cab-hailing service. It is also building a food delivery business where it competes with companies like Zomato, UberEats, and Swiggy.

Founded in 2011 by Bhavish Aggarwal and Ankit Bhati, Ola has a presence across 125 cities including those in India, Australia, New Zealand and the U.K.