Ola's Valuation Cut To $2 Billion By Vanguard
Vanguard’s revisions to Ola's valuations are a signal to a leadership exodus, as well as the company's rebranding to Ola Consumer, moving beyond ride-hailing to offer a range of consumer services.
Ride-hailing major Ola's valuation has been slashed to about $2 billion, representing a 72% decline from its peak valuation in late 2021.
US-based investor Vanguard now values its shares in ANI Technologies, Ola’s parent company, at $14.3 million. This is compared to the $51 million it initially invested, according to regulatory filings by the US asset manager.
In February, Vanguard had attributed a similar valuation to Ola at about $1.9 billion. Ola Cabs hit a peak valuation of $7.3 billion in late 2021.
To be clear, these markdowns have only been made in the internal books of Vanguard Inc.
Vanguard’s revisions to Ola's valuations are a signal to the leadership exodus at Ola, as well as the company's rebranding to Ola Consumer, moving beyond ride-hailing to offer a broader range of consumer services.
In February, the company also reorganised into three business units—ride hailing and mobility, financial services, and logistics and e-commerce—to "allow focused management, streamlined operations, and more agility."
Shortly after that, in April, former Unilever executive Hemant Bakshi quit as Ola's chief executive officer within months, as Founder Bhavish Aggarwal also focused on Ola Electric and Krutrim as group concerns.
There has also been no word on the launch of Ola Consumer's fully automated warehousing solution, which it claims is 90% cheaper than existing dark store operators. With this, Ola was supposed to enter the quick commerce market, which has become highly competitive with Blinkit, Swiggy Instamart, Zepto, Big Basket Now, and most recently, Flipkart Minutes being present in the space.
