Ola's valuation likely to touch $5 bn

Ola, an Indian ride-booking competitor to Uber Technologies, is close to raising funds that will give the company an estimated valuation of at least $5 billion, according to people familiar with the plans. The Indian app operator, owned by ANI Technologies, is close to raising $500 million in the current financing round, the people said, asking not to be identified, as the information is private.

Both Ola and Uber are expanding rapidly in India, where public transportation services in most cities and towns haven't kept pace with the needs of a growing population and where car ownership is low. Ola said this week that its unit will spend $754 million to lease cars to drivers.

In April, Ola announced that it had raised $400 million in a funding round led by DST Global with participation from GIC, Falcon Edge Capital and SoftBank Group, Tiger Global, Steadview Capital and Accel Partners US.

Bhavish Aggarwal, founder and chief executive officer at Ola, didn't immediately respond to an e-mail seeking comment. The Wall Street Journal reported on Tuesday that Ola has raised $226 million in its latest funding round.