Indian tycoon Ratan Tata bets on homegrown taxi aggregator Ola

Ratan Tata, former chief of Tata Group and currently chairman emeritus of the group’s holding company Tata Sons, has invested in home-grown taxi hailing startup Ola.

The funding amount is undisclosed.

The four-year-old startup claims to have 150,000 vehicles, including motor-rickshaws and black and yellow cabs, in 100 cities across India. It has recently expanded services to include OlaCafe, an instant food delivery service, which is currently available in beta across four cities.

Olacabs is one of the most heavily-funded startups in India. Earlier this year, it raised US$400 million led by DST Global taking the total funds raised by the company to US$600 million. The company recently acquired TaxiForSure, India’s second largest cab aggregator, to fortify its arsenal while it battles against Uber.

Tata retired as the head of Tata Group, the US$ 100 billion conglomerate, in December 2012 and has since taken an active interest in the tech startup space. Recently, he invested an undisclosed amount in women’s fashion brand Karyaah, smartphone manufacturer Xiaomi, and mobile commerce company Paytm.

Tata’s early investment was in Snapdeal in August 2014. Following that, he picked up stakes in online jewelry portal Bluestone, furniture seller Urban Ladder, and GirnarSoft, the parent company of automobile portals Cardekho, Pricedekho, Gaadi, and Bikedekho.