Ola Cabs becomes third-most valued Indian venture-backed firm at $2.4bn

Taxi-hailing app Ola Cabs has become India's third-biggest venture-backed startup after its latest funding round that generated $400m (£269m, €374m) for the Bengaluru-based company.

Media reports said Ola is the third-most valuable venture-backed company in India with a valuation of $2.4bn. Local e-commerce giants Flipkart and Snapdeal, which are also backed by venture capitalists across the world, are the only Indian companies currently valued above Ola.

The company has so far raised about $800m from investors. In October, it raised $210m from a group of investors led by Japan's Softbank.

The latest funding for Ola comes from a consortium of investors led by DST Global.

Ola said in a statement that it has raised "$400 million in Series E round of funding led by DST Global with participation from GIC, Falcon Edge Capital and existing investors SoftBank Group, Tiger Global, Steadview Capital and Accel Partners US."

With the funding, the firm plans to expand its operations into smaller cities across India. By the end of 2015, the company intends to have operations in 200 cities compared to 100 as of now.

"The additional investment will allow Ola to go deeper into smaller cities to build personal transportation ground-up. Ola has already seen tremendous growth in tier 2 & 3 cities owing to very limited transportation options that currently exist," the company said.

"The company will continue to invest in building cutting edge technology to suit the needs of drivers and customers as well as invest in the driver ecosystem. Ola aims to further localise its offerings for the benefit of citizens and driver partners in every market."