Some stories need to be told even if they are buried deep in the annals of history. In this particular case, buried deep in the documents filed by ride-hailing startup Ola and its subsidiaries with the Ministry of Corporate Affairs. It is best that we start at the very beginning.
The year was 2015, and Ola had just raised a hefty $400 million, a fundraise that could have put most startups to shame. The company, valued at $2.5 billion following this transaction, had some of the biggest names in the world of tech investing on its cap table—from Russian investment firm DST Global and Japan’s SoftBank to American hedge fund Tiger Global and venture capital firm Accel Partners.
That year, Ola (registered as ANI Technologies Pvt. Ltd) got a little bolder. It bought rival cab app TaxiForSure for $200 million. It