Microsoft mulls on investing $100 million in Ola's parent firm
What's the story
According to reports, Microsoft is now mulling on investing $50-100 million (Rs. 320-640 crore) to acquire a minority stake in ANI Technologies Pvt. Ltd, which runs Ola, the home-grown ride hailing platform. This may also see Ola switching to Microsoft's Azure cloud platform from Amazon Web Services (AWS), said Mint's sources. Here's all about it.
Flipkart
Microsoft has Flipkart, Ola would be a good addition
Previously, Microsoft had sealed a long-term cloud services deal with Flipkart, the e-commerce platform that rivals Amazon India. The tech giant then invested around $200 million in this Indian start-up. Ola is on the lookout for fresh capital. So far it has garnered Rs. 2,345cr from SoftBank Group and others. It is trying to get more funds and Microsoft would be a good match.
Azure
Azure will get a solid boost
The talks are in their initial stages. Microsoft chief executive Satya Nadella is looking to partner as many tech firms in India as possible to establish its Azure cloud service. The chances of investment are high but nothing is on paper yet. Ola's pre-money valuation was around $3-3.3 billion in the latest round, a marked fall from the $4.5 billion valuation of September 2015.
Ola
A necessary arrangement
Ola needs investment to ward off Uber. After losing out its Chinese business to Didi Chuxing, India has become one of the top priorities for the world's most valuable start-up. Since Uber has deep pockets, Ola desperately needs capital. For Microsoft, investment in Ola would mean having two of the biggest Indian home-grown start-ups on its side. Flipkart and Ola will strengthen Azure's foundation.