Why Bhavish Aggarwal of Ola turned down a $1.1 billion SoftBank deal
Aggarwal has grown concerned about SoftBank's influence as it took a stake in his archrival Uber and then encouraged the rivals to merge.
- Startups, when they raise venture money to build their businesses, begin with a Series A round and then proceed through Series E, F or maybe G before going public.
- The Japanese conglomerate, led by Masayoshi Son, was an early backer of Ola, but Aggarwal has grown concerned about its influence as SoftBank took a stake in his archrival, Uber Technologies Inc., and then encouraged the rivals to merge.
- Aggarwal avoids gatherings with Son and his portfolio companies when he visits India, according to people familiar with the matter.
- Saudi Arabia contributed nearly half of the capital for Son's $100 billion Vision Fund.