Ola's founder pivoted to EVs — the $7.3B ride-hailing leader is now valued at $70M

In late 2021 Ola's ride-hailing business raised $139 million at a $7.3 billion valuation, backed by SoftBank, Tiger Global and Temasek, and commanded a healthy share of India's ride-hailing duopoly with Uber India. But from late 2018 founder Bhavish Aggarwal had shifted his focus to Ola Electric, convinced that EVs would define the future of Indian mobility — and, according to multiple industry insiders cited by Inc42, institutional resources and structural priority moved with him.

The core business starved. Senior executives left as priorities shifted — the CFO, the chief business officer, and eventually the company's CEO, who quit in April 2024, with Aggarwal stepping in to run the business directly. Driver relations soured over a contentious 30% commission model, product quality and innovation stalled, and Ola dismissed the threat from zero-commission rival Rapido for too long. Rapido entered the four-wheeler cab segment only in late 2023 yet held more than 20% of the cab market by March 2025; Uber's CEO named Rapido, not Ola, as Uber's primary competition in India.

By June 2026 the reckoning was stark. Vanguard marked down its stake to value the company at $70 million — a 90%-plus haircut from the $7.3 billion peak. ANI Technologies' operating revenue fell 42% to ₹1,171 crore in FY25, net losses nearly doubled to ₹662 crore, and cash halved to ₹653 crore. Moody's and S&P downgraded the company, warning cash would fall substantially short of debt service and capex needs, with a $65 million term B loan due in December 2026. IPO plans were shelved; acquisition talks were reported, which Ola denied as baseless.

The founder's attention and the company's resources moved to Ola Electric while the market-leading core business was left to coast on its position.

A 30% commission model and a decaying product pushed drivers and riders toward zero-commission rival Rapido, whose threat insiders say was dismissed for too long.

Successive executive departures left Aggarwal progressively isolated, surrounded by fewer people able or willing to challenge the strategy.

The decline compounded in public: credit downgrades, a halving cash buffer and a $65M loan wall due in December 2026 boxed in the remaining options.

A market leader abandoned by its own founder decays faster than rivals can attack it: founder attention is the scarcest resource in the company.

Ola said it was not engaged in any discussions to merge, sell or transfer control, calling acquisition reports baseless. Moody's and S&P warned that cash would fall substantially short of debt service and capex requirements through December 2026, when the $65 million term B loan comes due and the company must hold at least $26 million in reserves. Aggarwal was simultaneously pulling Ola Electric out of its post-IPO sales slump and running the AI venture Krutrim, with Inc42 describing the ride-hailing business he started with as facing a serious existential threat.