BackOla to acquire Avail Finance owned by Bhavish’s brother
Ola did not reveal the amount of the acquisition and said that the deal is subject to shareholder approval
PremiumANI Technologies Pvt. Ltd, the parent of ride-hailing platform Ola Cabs, has reached an agreement to pick up a 100% stake in fintech startup Avail Finance, which serves the blue collar workforce, the company said on Thursday evening.
The SoftBank-backed company did not reveal the financial details of the transaction, but news portal Moneycontrol reported that the share-swap deal will be worth $50 million.
The deal will be subject to shareholder approval, the company said. Avail Finance was founded in 2017 by Ola founder Bhavish Aggarwal’s brother Ankush, and Tushar Mehndiratta. The financial services firm counts Ola, Falcon Edge and Matrix Partners as investors.
Avail Finance had recently acquired neobanking platform YeLo, and had sought regulatory approval to buy non-bank lender Art Climate Finance (India) Pvt. Ltd, Mint reported in November.
Operated by Avali Financial Services Ltd, the startup claims to have over 6 million users. The acquisition will enhance Ola’s mobility-focused financial services offerings, under Ola Financial Services, it said.
Ola Financial Services seeks to serve ‘credit-underserved’ segments comprising blue collar workers such as its driver partner ecosystem, it added.
Ola seeks to leverage Avail Finance’s products and capabilities to enhance its lending business and expand into neobanking products.
The fintech business will be augmented by Avail Finance’s leadership team with experience in the consumer lending industry, along with a strong team across tech, product and design, data science and analytics, among others, Ola said.
Ola will be able to cross sell multiple lending products to its large driver partner base by offering them a one-stop destination for all their financial needs, the cab-hailer said. Ola recently invested nearly ₹800 crore in its financial services business and is witnessing significant growth across its lending and insurance verticals. Ola Postpaid, its buy-now-pay-later (BNPL) offering is used by 40 million customers, the company claimed. Ola, which also manufactures electric scooters under Ola Electric Mobility Pvt. Ltd, said its vehicle financing business is growing rapidly along with Ola Electric and Ola Cars, its used-car business.
It has built a first-of-its-kind embedded motor insurance product for Ola Electric and Ola Cars, where customers can select insurance and add-ons such as roadside assistance and zero depreciation.
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