If the deal goes through, Ola would become the first Indian unicorn, or billion-dollar startup, to accept funds at a lower valuation, in what’s known as a down-round. It would be 40% lower than the $5 billion the company was valued at after a previous round in November 2015. That made Ola one of the nation’s four most valuable startups, alongside online retailers Flipkart and Snapdeal and digital payments operator Paytm. Ola currently holds the upper hand in the $10 billion Indian market but Uber has been stepping up competition, via driver incentives and promotions targeted at its rival’s existing markets. Investors in India’s largest privately funded companies —Ola, Flipkart and Snapdeal—have marked down the value of their investments this year.

Source: Mint November 25, 2016 08:54 UTC