Uber rival Ola said to be seeking funds at 40% lower valuation

[BANGALORE] India's Ola is raising funds at a sharply reduced valuation of about US$3 billion, a person with direct knowledge of the matter says, as the country's foremost ride-hailing service tries to amass capital to stave off a challenge from Uber Technologies Inc.

If the deal goes through, Ola would become the first Indian unicorn, or billion-dollar startup, to accept funds at a lower valuation, in what's known as a down-round. It would be 40 per cent lower than the US$5 billion the company was valued at after a previous round in November 2015. That made Ola one of the nation's four most valuable startups, alongside online retailers Flipkart and Snapdeal and digital payments operator Paytm.

Ola continues to negotiate with investors as it pursues a goal of raising over US$600 million this time, but it's had to peg its expectations lower, the person said, asking not to be identified because the discussions are private. Global funding for startups is slowing and investors harbor concerns about an increasingly aggressive Uber, the world's most valuable and best-funded technology startup. Startups are usually reluctant to accept down-rounds because of how it could depress morale and the value of existing investors' stakes.

But companies that need capital to bankroll operations may have little choice in the matter. India's technology startups raised US$4.23 billion in the first three quarters of this year, less than half the total for the same period of 2015, according to researcher Preqin. Ola declined to comment. India's Economic Times earlier reported Ola's willingness to take a lower valuation.

The Indian startup is still drawing interest from new investors, the person said. Existing backer SoftBank Group Corp will join its upcoming round but won't lead the fundraising, the person added. Ola's previous investors include Tiger Global Management, DST Global, Accel Partners and Sequoia Capital. Matthew Nicholson, a spokesman for SoftBank in Tokyo, declined to comment.

Ola, whose parent is ANI Technologies Pvt, and Uber are trying to one-up each other in one of the world's most attractive ride-hailing arenas. Ola currently holds the upper hand in the US$10 billion Indian market but Uber has been stepping up competition, via driver incentives and promotions targeted at its rival's existing markets.

Investors in India's largest privately funded companies - Ola, Flipkart and Snapdeal - have marked down the value of their investments this year. This month, SoftBank announced a 58.1 billion yen (S$743.7 million) investment loss, mainly on its assets in India. SoftBank's investments in the country include Jasper Infotech Pvt's Snapdeal.

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