Following Arun Sirdeshmukh, the head of Ola’s used car business’ exit from the company last month, Ola has decided to “reorient” Ola Cars, its used car business which was started in October last year. It also announced that it has shut down Ola Dash, its quick commerce business. In January 2022 itself, the company has announced Ola Dash’s expansion plans to open 500 dark stores across 20 cities.
The company will be focusing more on strengthening its electric vehicle division. “Ola has reassessed its priorities and decided to shut down Ola Dash- its quick commerce business. Ola will also be reorienting its Ola Cars business to focus more on strengthening the go-to-market strategy for Ola Electric,” it said in a statement.
The company added that the Ola Cars infra, technology and capabilities will be repurposed towards Ola Electric’s sales and service network. On the EV front, Bhavish Aggarwal-led firm plans to increase investments towards developing electric cars, cell manufacturing, and its financial services unit.
Ola, which is also planning to go public later this year or early next year was last valued at $7.3 billion when it raised $139 million in its Series J round, led by Edelweiss PE, IIFL, and Sunil Munjal-led Hero Enterprises.
The company says that its ride hailing business is delivering its highest ever GMV month on month along with very strong profitability, and Ola Electric has become India’s largest EV company within months of launch. According to the company, Ola Electric surpassed Rs 500 crore revenue in its first two months of FY 22-23, is on track to surpass $1 billion run rate by end of this year. “Ola will also be expanding its 2Wheeler portfolio with plans to launch its second EV scooter aimed at the mass-market, to be introduced before the end of this year,” the company said in a statement.
Ola’s businesses have seen at least 15 top-level exits in the past two years, including Dinesh Radhakrishnan, who handled engineering functions across both Ola Electric and Ola Cabs; Ola’s chief marketing officer Varun Dubey and CFO Swayam Saurabh; Ola Electric’s head of quality assurance Joseph Thomas; and Ola’s chief operating officer Gaurav Porwal.
Source by www.businesstoday.in