Flipkart cofounder Sachin Bansal, who invested $100 million in Bhavish Aggarwal’s Ola in 2019 in what was his largest personal investment in a startup, has begun talks with investors to sell the stake in the ride-hailing company, three people aware of the matter said.The deal’s closure would depend on valuation, as people briefed on the matter said Bansal has sought a premium to sell his stake by valuing the company around $4 billion. Details were not disclosed at the time of the investment, but it was estimated to be at a valuation of around $3 billion.

Bansal, who has known Aggarwal for well over a decade — both have built their ventures taking on US rivals like Uber and Amazon in India — has discussed the proposal with him, the people said. He has held discussions with a group of large family offices as well as private investment arms of investors who actively invest in public markets, they said.

Bansal’s move comes right after his exit from one of his earlier bets, IPO-bound Ather Energy where he sold the stake to Zerodha’s Nikhil Kamath, as first reported by ET.

Bansal, according to people close to him, has been solely focusing on his fintech venture Navi over the past year and is looking to liquidate large holdings such as Ola to build a war chest for his own startup. He has explored external fundraising for Navi, but those talks are yet to fructify.

“Yes, the deal has come to us. The idea being this could be an entry in Ola right before the IPO, but valuation at which Bansal agrees will be key to the deal,” said a person who has reviewed the proposal.

Bansal is said to be open to negotiation on the valuation, said people in the know.Emails sent to Bansal, Navi and Ola did not elicit any response on the matter till press time Monday.

Navi hurdles

Bansal’s Navi, as reported by ET, has been in talks to raise external capital but had faced regulatory hurdles.

Navi Finserv, its non-banking financial services arm, was asked by the central bank in October to stop lending, though the restriction was lifted on December 2. Bansal-led Navi’s previous attempts to raise capital from Temasek had fallen through after the Reserve Bank of India denied it a banking licence.

Last April, ET reported that Bansal had discussed fundraising plans for Navi at a $2 billion valuation following the setbacks on banking aspirations. Bansal has invested a majority of his personal capital in his fintech venture following the exit from Flipkart in 2018 — where he made $1 billion by selling his 5% stake to Walmart.

Valuation key

Ola, run by Bengaluru-based ANI Technologies, has plans to go public this year or by the next financial year ending in March 2026. Its investors recently also discussed with the firm on plans to participate in an IPO, including selling shares.

“There is a plan for an IPO, but details are yet to be finalised and any new investor will want to have more clarity on that to get a sense on the potential exit,” another person aware of the discussions said.

Ola’s valuation has been cut by its investors in recent months. Vanguard valued Ola at $2 billion as of August 2024 — a sharp drop from the peak of $7.3 billion in 2021 when the company raised $139 million in new funding. Since Covid-19, the business has gone through major changes and founder Aggarwal announced rebranding Ola to Ola Consumer last Independence Day.

The company is positioning itself as a wider consumer internet firm going aggressive with food and grocery delivery via ONDC as well as launching its own dark store as a service business to ride the quick-commerce wave in the country.

In FY23, ANI Technologies reported a Rs 1,082 crore loss, about a third of the year before. Revenue grew 58% to Rs 2,135 crore. Its FY24 financials are yet to be filed with the Registrar of Companies.

Flipkart cofounder Sachin Bansal, who invested $100 million in Bhavish Aggarwal’s Ola in 2019 in what was his largest personal investment in a startup, has begun talks with investors to sell the stake in the ride-hailing company, three people aware of the matter said.The deal’s closure would depend on valuation, as people briefed on the matter said Bansal has sought a premium to sell his stake by valuing the company around $4 billion. Details were not disclosed at the time of the investment, but it was estimated to be at a valuation of around $3 billion.

Bansal, who has known Aggarwal for well over a decade — both have built their ventures taking on US rivals like Uber and Amazon in India — has discussed the proposal with him, the people said. He has held discussions with a group of large family offices as well as private investment arms of investors who actively invest in public markets, they said.

Bansal’s move comes right after his exit from one of his earlier bets, IPO-bound Ather Energy where he sold the stake to Zerodha’s Nikhil Kamath, as first reported by ET.

Bansal, according to people close to him, has been solely focusing on his fintech venture Navi over the past year and is looking to liquidate large holdings such as Ola to build a war chest for his own startup. He has explored external fundraising for Navi, but those talks are yet to fructify.

“Yes, the deal has come to us. The idea being this could be an entry in Ola right before the IPO, but valuation at which Bansal agrees will be key to the deal,” said a person who has reviewed the proposal.

Bansal is said to be open to negotiation on the valuation, said people in the know.Emails sent to Bansal, Navi and Ola did not elicit any response on the matter till press time Monday.

Navi hurdles

Bansal’s Navi, as reported by ET, has been in talks to raise external capital but had faced regulatory hurdles.

Navi Finserv, its non-banking financial services arm, was asked by the central bank in October to stop lending, though the restriction was lifted on December 2. Bansal-led Navi’s previous attempts to raise capital from Temasek had fallen through after the Reserve Bank of India denied it a banking licence.

Last April, ET reported that Bansal had discussed fundraising plans for Navi at a $2 billion valuation following the setbacks on banking aspirations. Bansal has invested a majority of his personal capital in his fintech venture following the exit from Flipkart in 2018 — where he made $1 billion by selling his 5% stake to Walmart.

Valuation key

Ola, run by Bengaluru-based ANI Technologies, has plans to go public this year or by the next financial year ending in March 2026. Its investors recently also discussed with the firm on plans to participate in an IPO, including selling shares.

“There is a plan for an IPO, but details are yet to be finalised and any new investor will want to have more clarity on that to get a sense on the potential exit,” another person aware of the discussions said.

Ola’s valuation has been cut by its investors in recent months. Vanguard valued Ola at $2 billion as of August 2024 — a sharp drop from the peak of $7.3 billion in 2021 when the company raised $139 million in new funding. Since Covid-19, the business has gone through major changes and founder Aggarwal announced rebranding Ola to Ola Consumer last Independence Day.

The company is positioning itself as a wider consumer internet firm going aggressive with food and grocery delivery via ONDC as well as launching its own dark store as a service business to ride the quick-commerce wave in the country.

In FY23, ANI Technologies reported a Rs 1,082 crore loss, about a third of the year before. Revenue grew 58% to Rs 2,135 crore. Its FY24 financials are yet to be filed with the Registrar of Companies.