<article> <a href="https://www.dealstreetasia.com/?s=SoftBank India" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">SoftBank India</a> head Sumer Juneja is joining ride-hailing platform <a href="https://www.dealstreetasia.com/?s=Ola" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Ola’s</a> board.</article>

<a href="https://www.dealstreetasia.com/?s=SoftBank India" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">SoftBank India</a> head Sumer Juneja is joining ride-hailing platform <a href="https://www.dealstreetasia.com/?s=Ola" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Ola’s</a> board.
He will replace David Thevenon, who has been on the board of Ola for over last two-and-a-half years. Talking to <a href="https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/companies/softbank-puts-india-head-sumer-juneja-on-ola-delhivery-board/articleshow/68733874.cms">The Times of India</a>, a SoftBank spokesperson said that Thevenon is stepping down to focus on his board responsibilities for Didi Chuxing and other portfolio companies.
Juneja quit as director at <a href="https://www.dealstreetasia.com/?s=Norwest Venture Partners" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Norwest Venture Partners</a> to join as partner and head of India at SoftBank Investment Advisers in November last year.
&#8220;We extend a warm welcome to Sumer Juneja who is joining Ola&#8217;s board to represent Softbank. Sumer&#8217;s experience in the India market is extremely valuable to us and we look forward to working closely with him and Softbank,&#8221; Ola responded to an emailed query from DEALSTREETASIA.
His appointment comes at a times when Ola founder Bhavish Aggarwal has been shoring up his rights against SoftBank, which currently owns about 26 per cent stake in the Indian company. It has invested about $700 million in Ola till date. SoftBank is an investor in its rival Uber, too, which is why the Indian company is shying away from giving more stake to the Japanese investor.
Aggarwal along with Ankit Bhati hold over 20 per cent in Ola. Other key investor in the Indian ride-hailing firm include Tiger Global Management.
Last year in December, SoftBank had reportedly approached Ola with an offer to invest another $1 billion, which could have give the Japanese investor about 10-15 per cent additional stake in the company. But Aggarwal has reportedly been wanting to bring in other investors to avoid ceding control to SoftBank.
SoftBank had also offered to buy Tiger Global&#8217;s share in the company in the past.
It was also reported last year that Singapore state investment firm Temasek had purchased a large single-digit stake in Ola for around $225 million. Temasek had also been in discussions with Ola’s management to pump in more money into the company by way of subscription to new shares.
Ola has raised about $3.8 billion in primary capital from a number of local and global investors since its launch in 2011, according to Crunchbase. The Bengaluru-based company was reportedly valued at roughly $6 billion during a funding round in February.
While at Norwest, Juneja first led an investment in Swiggy in 2015 and also served on the firm&#8217;s board as an observer. He also led investments in Swiggy, Quikr, and National Stock Exchange. Prior to joining Norwest, Juneja worked as an associate and investment banking analyst with Goldman Sachs for about five years.
Juneja is a London School of Economics graduate.
Also Read:
<a href="https://www.dealstreetasia.com/stories/ola-self-drive-127696/">Indian ride-hailing major Ola to invest $500m in self-drive venture: Report</a>
<a href="https://www.dealstreetasia.com/stories/hyundai-kia-motors-ola-126268/">Korean automakers Hyundai, Kia Motors invest $300m in India’s Ola</a>

He replaces David Thevenon, who is is stepping down to focus on his board responsibilities for Didi Chuxing and other portfolio companies.

SoftBank India head Sumer Juneja joins ride-hailing firm Ola's board

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SoftBank India head Sumer Juneja joins ride-hailing firm Ola's board

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