Ola Electric

Indian electric scooter manufacturer
  • Motor vehicle manufacturing
  • Motor vehicle distribution
  • Charging solutions
  • EV batteries
RevenueIncrease ₹5,009 crore (US$600 million) (FY24)[2]
Net income
Negative increase ₹−1,584 crore (US$−190 million) (FY24)Owners
  • Bhavish Aggarwal (36.94%)
  • SoftBank (21.98%)
  • Tiger Global (6.03%)
  • Ola Cabs (4.35%)[3]
Number of employees
3,733 (October 2023)[4]Websiteolaelectric.com

Ola Electric Mobility (stylized as OLΛ ELECTRIC) is an Indian electric two-wheeler manufacturer, based in Bangalore. It has a manufacturing facility located in Krishnagiri, Tamil Nadu, which is India's largest two-wheeler EV manufacturing factory.[5][6] The company was valued at around US$5.4 billion, as of September 2023.[7]

Currently, it offers an electric scooter named Ola S1 in three variants named Ola S1 Air, Ola S1X and S1 Pro. Following the launch of their first electric motorcycle, Ola plans to introduce additional premium electric motorcycle models later in 2024. Ola is also aiming to launch its first electric car by the end of 2024.[8][9][10]

History

2017-2019

Ola Electric was established in 2017 as a wholly-owned subsidiary of ANI Technologies, the parent entity of Ola Cabs.[11][12] The company was started to reduce emission and fuel dependency of Ola's cabs, and shift to mass electric mobility; a pilot program was launched in Nagpur in May 2017 by setting up charging stations across the city and procuring electric cabs, e-buses, and e-rickshaws from OEM partners.[13][14] In April 2018, it announced that it aims to have 1 million electric vehicles in its cab service by 2022.[15]

Between December 2018 and January 2019, founder Bhavish Aggarwal bought a 92.5% stake in Ola Electric from ANI Technologies at a valuation of ₹1 lakh (about US$1,400 then), and Ola Electric was spun-off as a separate entity. ANI Technologies continued to hold a 7.5% stake in Ola Electric for allowing the use of "Ola" brand name.[16]

In February 2019, Ola Electric raised US$56 million from Tiger Global and Matrix India.[17] The company announced on 6 May 2019 that Ratan Tata had invested an undisclosed amount in Ola Electric as part of its Series A round of funding.[18] It raised $250 million from SoftBank during Series B round funding in July 2019, at a valuation of over $1 billion.[19]

2020-present

Ola scooters fresh out of assembly line

In May 2020, Ola Electric acquired Etergo, an Amsterdam-based crowdfunded electric scooter manufacturer, for €3.75 million in a distress sale.[20] Ola Electric announced that it would launch its own line of electric scooters in India by 2021.[21]

In December 2020, the company announced its plan to set up the world's largest two wheeler factory (called the Future Factory) in Tamil Nadu at a cost of ₹2,400 crore (US$323.89 million) after signing a memorandum with the Government of Tamil Nadu.[22] It acquired a 500-acre land in Pochampalli, Krishnagiri District in January 2021; the construction work for the factory began in late February.[23]

OLA S1 Pro Gen 1 Electric Scooter
Ola electric scooter

Ola Electric received 500,000 bookings for scooters in the first month of availability.[24]

Ola Electric started delivering its S1 and S1 Pro models in December 2021 with the deliveries of 100 scooters in Bengaluru and Chennai, although some promised features were not enabled in initial deliveries.[25][26]

Ola Electric raised more than $200 million from Falcon Edge, SoftBank Group and others at a valuation of $3 billion in September 2021.[27] In December the same year, it raised $53 million in an investment round led by Singaporean investment firm, Temasek.[28] In January 2022, Ola Electric raised US$200 million from multiple investors at a valuation of US$5 billion.[29]

In late March 2022, Ola made a strategic investment in Israel-based battery technology company StoreDot to incorporate and manufacture its XFC (extreme fast charging) battery technologies for future vehicles in India.[30] In the wake of a fire incident in its scooter in Pune on 26 March, the company recalled a batch of 1,441 scooters in April as a "pre-emptive measure".[31]

On 20 June 2022, Ola Electric teased its first sedan electric car.[32]

In July 2022, CEO Bhavish Aggarwal announced that the company was building Battery Innovation Center (BIC) in Bangalore, which would be Asia's largest cell R&D facility, with an investment of $500 million.[33]

In October 2023, the company raised $140 million in equity and $240 million in debt, at a valuation of $5.4 billion, to set up a lithium-ion battery manufacturing facility in Tamil Nadu called Ola Gigafactory.[34][35]

In April 2024, Ola Electric teased the prototype of its autonomous electric scooter called Ola Solo.[36]

On 2 August 2024, Ola Electric launched its initial public offering (IPO) and raised ₹5,500 crore. Existing investors, including founder Aggarwal, sold 84.9 million shares in the IPO.[37][38]

Production

Ola scooter assembly line

The factory, named the Ola Future Factory, is spread in a 500-acre, automated complex located in Pochampalli town in Krishnagiri district of Tamil Nadu. The company claimed it will be the largest two wheeler factory in the world with an annual production capacity of 10 million units. The first electric two-wheeler was produced on 15 August 2021. By January 2022, it was manufacturing nearly a thousand electric scooters daily.[39]

See also

References

  1. ^ "IPO-Bound Ola Electric's FY24 Net Loss Widens To INR 1,584 Cr, Revenue Jumps 90%". Inc42.
  2. ^ "Ola Electric's revenue hits Rs 5,000 crore, losses widen by 8% in FY24". Moneycontrol.
  3. ^ Manchanada, Kunal (29 July 2024). "Decoding Ola Electric's RHP fine print and FY24 numbers". Entrackr. Retrieved 29 July 2024.
  4. ^ "Ola Electric planning to layoff 400-500 employees to streamline operations". Business Standard. Retrieved 2 August 2024.
  5. ^ Mohile, Shally Seth (3 August 2021). "Ola Electric to ride into two-wheeler market with scooter launch on Aug 15". Business Standard India.
  6. ^ "Ola to buy 1500 acres in Tamil Nadu for EV factory: Report". The Economic Times. 2023-01-07. ISSN 0013-0389. Retrieved 2023-06-24.
  7. ^ "Ola Electric eyes IPO filing by Oct-end to raise up to $700 mn: Report". Business Today. 2023-09-20. Retrieved 2023-09-21.
  8. ^ "Upcoming OLA Electric Cars". CarDekho. 27 March 2024.
  9. ^ "Ola's big announcement: Five electric motorcycles teased". The Times of India. 2023-02-09. Retrieved 2023-06-24.
  10. ^ "Ola Electric car design leaked, shows a Tesla Model S-like minimalistic look". 91Mobiles. Retrieved 2023-06-22.
  11. ^ "The big electric scooter battle". Fortune India. Retrieved 17 August 2021.
  12. ^ "Ola: Ola Electric gets $250m funding from SoftBank". The Economic Times. Retrieved 17 August 2021.
  13. ^ Peermohamed, Alnoor (27 May 2017). "Ola kicks off pilot of its electric mass mobility project in Nagpur". Business Standard India. Retrieved 23 November 2021.
  14. ^ "Introducing Ola Electric". blog.olacabs.com. Retrieved 23 November 2021.
  15. ^ Peermohamed, Alnoor (17 April 2018). "Ola aligns with Softbank's dream of one million electric vehicles". Business Standard India. Retrieved 23 November 2021.
  16. ^ "The Curious Case Of Bhavish Aggarwal And Ola Electric". Moneycontrol. Retrieved 23 November 2021.
  17. ^ "India's Ola spins out a dedicated EV business — and it just raised $56M from investors". TechCrunch. Retrieved 23 November 2021.
  18. ^ Bansal, Varsha (6 May 2019). "Ratan Tata raises stake in Ola, invests in fledgling electric vehicle business". Mint. Retrieved 7 May 2019.
  19. ^ Bansal, Varsha (2 July 2019). "Ola Electric races to unicorn status with $250-million fundraise from SoftBank". mint.
  20. ^ S.H, Salman (24 November 2020). "Ola's Electric Ambitions Hinge On A Brewing Lawsuit Stemming From An Acquisition". Inc42 Media. Retrieved 2 August 2024.
  21. ^ Bhalla, Tarush (27 May 2020). "Ola Electric acquires Etergo, looks to launch electric scooters in India by 2021". mint. Retrieved 23 November 2021.
  22. ^ Abrar, Peerzada (14 December 2020). "Ola to invest Rs 2,400 crore for 'world's largest' e-scooter factory". Business Standard India. Retrieved 17 August 2021.
  23. ^ "Ola Electric factory almost ready as company gears up for e-scooter launch". Hindustan Times Auto News. 4 August 2021. Retrieved 17 August 2021.
  24. ^ Anirban Mitra (20 August 2021). "Electric Scooter News: How Ola, Simple e-scooters started solid, clocked record bookings |". The Times of India. Retrieved 20 August 2021.
  25. ^ "Ola Electric delivers first 100 scooters without some promised features". The Economic Times. Retrieved 2021-12-17.
  26. ^ "Ola Electric Commences S1, S1 Pro Scooter Deliveries in Bengaluru and Chennai". News18. 2021-12-16. Retrieved 2021-12-17.
  27. ^ "Ola Electric gets $200 million funding at $3 billion valuation". The Economic Times. Retrieved 2021-12-17.
  28. ^ Agarwal, Ankit (2021-12-08). "Ola Electric raises $53 mn in round led by Temasek, valued at $2.7 bn". mint. Retrieved 2021-12-17.
  29. ^ "Ola Electric raises $200 million in funding at a valuation of $5 billion". cnbctv18.com. 24 January 2022. Retrieved 27 January 2022.
  30. ^ "Ola Electric makes strategic investment in fast-charging tech company StoreDot". The Economic Times. 21 March 2022. Retrieved 2 August 2024.
  31. ^ "Ola Electric recalls 1,441 units of electric two-wheelers". The Hindu. 24 April 2022. Retrieved 2 August 2024.
  32. ^ Desk, HT Auto (2022-06-20). "Ola Electric teases its first electric car; likely to launch in 2023". Hindustan Times Auto News. Retrieved 2022-06-21.
  33. ^ "Ola Electric building EV cell R&D facility in Bengaluru with $500 mn investment". Hindustan Times. 18 July 2022.
  34. ^ "Ola Electric closes $240 million in debt financing to set up lithium-ion cell factory". The Economic Times. 26 October 2023. Retrieved 2 August 2024.
  35. ^ "Ola Electric commences construction of India's largest Gigafactory in Tamil Nadu". TimesNow. 2023-06-21. Retrieved 2023-06-24.
  36. ^ "This electric scooter from Ola can ride on its own; fully autonomous & 100% made-in-India". India Today. 2 April 2024. Retrieved 2 August 2024.
  37. ^ "Ola Electric Mobility: EV maker to launch IPO on August 2 to raise Rs 5,500 crore". The Times of India. 2024-07-28. ISSN 0971-8257. Retrieved 2024-07-28.
  38. ^ "Ola Electric holds a battery secret on road to IPO". Mint. 21 March 2024.
  39. ^ "Ola commences construction of mega factory on 500-acre site in Tamil Nadu, eyes production soon". www.cnbctv18.com. 25 February 2021.
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