Indian Mobility Startup Ola Electric Inches Closer To IPO

Regardless of where you are in the world, if you’re an electric mobility enthusiast, chances are you’ve heard of Ola Electric. The startup has made waves across the world, despite operating only in India thanks to its affordable S1 electric scooters that tout innovative and smart technology. Its visionary founder and CEO, Bhavish Aggarwal, has been compared to Elon Musk on multiple occasions, thanks to his vision for the future of e-mobility.

Back in June, 2023, we reported that Ola Electric had plans of going public. Now, some two months later, it appears that the company will go public sooner than it anticipated. In a report by Bloomberg, Ola CEO Bhavish Aggarwal stated, “I thought it would take me four to six years of revenue to go public.” For reference, Ola’s been selling scooters in India since 2021, and in just two short years, has managed to amass enough revenue to go public before 2023 draws to a close – or so the company hopes.

At present, Ola Electric’s international backers included the likes of SoftBank Group Corp. and Tiger Global Management. Meanwhile, back at home, Ola Electric holds a whopping 38-percent share of the electric scooter market – a figure made even more impressive given the fact that it’s one of the newest players in the EV two-wheeler game. Overall, it has sold upwards of 239,000 electric scooters since launching in December 2021, according to data from the Society of Manufacturers of Electric Vehicles cited by Bloomberg. Furthermore, by 2024, Ola hopes to release a new electric motorbike, as well as its first electric car.

While all this is exciting news for EV enthusiasts and commuters alike, there have been a few roadblocks in Ola’s path. Chief of which is the company’s issues with employee retention. Most notably, Saurabh Sharda, the company’s head of partnerships and corporate affairs, has recently resigned. So, too, has the brand’s head of planning and strategy, Slokarth Dash – two positions that are vital when it comes to the major transitional period the company is undergoing. According to a report by India’s BW Disrupt, 31 out of the 40 top executives hired by Ola Electric have resigned.

Despite these challenges, Aggarwal remains optimistic, and has started the construction of a 115-acre battery manufacturing facility in the south of India. We mentioned back in July 2022 that Ola was developing its own lithium batteries. Well, now it’s ready to mass-produce these batteries, not just for EVs, but for home energy storage solutions, as well. As of this writing, it’s worth noting that the company has yet to announce an official IPO date.