Flipkart co-founder Sachin Bansal likely to sell $100-million stake in Bhavish Aggarwal's Ola: Report

Flipkart co-founder Sachin Bansal plans to sell his stake in Bhavish Aggarwal's Ola. Bansal, who invested $100 million in the ride-hailing company in 2019, wants to sell the stake, The Economic Times reported Tuesday.

The deal will be finalised on the basis of valuation. The report said Bansal has asked for a premium by valuing Ola at nearly $4 billion to sell his stake. During the time of investment, the company was reportedly valued at $3 billion.

Both Bansal and Aggarwal have known each other for more than a decade, and they have built their companies to compete with foreign rivals Uber and Amazon.

The report said, citing people sources, that Bansal's proposed stake sale in the company has been discussed with a group of large family offices and private investment units of investors in public markets.

“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,” the report quoted a person who has reviewed the proposal.

Bansal sold his stake in the IPO-bound Ather Energy to  Zerodha co-founder, Nikhil Kamath.

The Flipkart co-founder has been focused on Navi, his fintech venture, in the last year. Bansal is selling his stake in Ola to invest in Navi, the report said, citing people close to Bansal. Additionally, he is toying with external fundraising for Navi, though no decision has been taken on it.

Navi's issues

Navi is facing regulatory issues to raise funds externally, the report said. In October, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) prohibited the non-financial service company Navi Finserv from lending due to high interest rates. However, this restriction was lifted on December 2.

Ola's valuation

In August 2024, Vanguard valued Ola at $2 billion. This is a sharp decline from the peak in 2021 of $7.3 billion. In 2021, Ola raised $139 million.