Ola's mobility business made profit in FY23: Goal to serve 1 bn Indians

Hemant Bakshi, a former top Unilever executive, to lead Ola Mobility as CEO, with an aggressive growth focus

Ola announced that its India mobility business has turned earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, and amortisation (Ebitda) positive in 2022-23 (FY23), making it one of the few Indian internet companies to achieve this feat.

The SoftBank-backed company also named Hemant Bakshi as chief executive officer of Ola Mobility, leading its mobility business with an aggressive growth focus on ride-hailing, financial services, logistics, and e-commerce.

For the consolidated entity, the revenue from operations and other income for FY23 stood at Rs 3,000 crore compared to Rs 2,120 crore in 2021-22 (FY22). The Ebitda loss for the consolidated entity, excluding discontinued business, was reduced to Rs 29 crore in FY23 from Rs 291 crore in FY22.

ANI Technologies standalone (Ola’s India mobility business) total revenue has gone up by 48 per cent in FY23 to Rs 2,135 crore from Rs 1,350 crore in FY22. Total revenue includes revenue from operations and other income. It achieved segment-adjusted Ebitda of Rs 250 crore in FY23.

Ola mentioned that it is all set to reimagine and redefine mobility. The vision is to serve a billion Indian consumers and empower 10 million partners economically.

“We aspire to serve 1 billion Indians. We are proud to serve India at scale with a vast and integrated ecosystem, empowering consumers and enabling partners,” said Bhavish Aggarwal, founder, chairman, and managing director, Ola. “As a technology-first business, leading with innovation, we are confident to spearhead the country’s mobility ambitions and lead the next phase of growth in the industry at large.”

At a time when many state governments are also considering launching their ride-hailing applications with zero commission, Aggarwal said that mobility is a vastly underexplored opportunity. Also, there are efforts by players, including governments, who are doing it for a reason other than just business, and other companies may be giving tactical discounts or zero commission for the time being. “There’s no business model that can survive for free,” said Aggarwal.

Hemant Bakshi, a former top executive at consumer goods giant Unilever, said that as Ola’s India mobility business turns profitable in FY23, it is a testament to the resilience and innovation that have defined the company’s journey.

“Our focus on sustainable growth has not only fortified our financial standing but has also set the stage for an exciting future of expansion and industry leadership,” said Bakshi. “Ola is committed to continuing its legacy of innovation and excellence, shaping the future of mobility, e-commerce, financial services, and logistics.”

Ola is leveraging various strategies to transform mobility and ride-hailing and increase growth. This includes premiumisation to further expand the multi-city Prime Plus experience with a loyalty programme and luxury cars on the anvil.

Ola mentioned that over 16,000 partners have been onboarded across seven cities, and 1.9 million riders have availed of Prime+ service so far.

The other aim is the penetration of the market through electrification. It is leveraging electrification to disrupt the mobility space by offering the most affordable rides in the two-wheeler segment, priced lower than the industry, offering more benefits to the partners.

In September 2023, Ola tapped into urban mobility in Bengaluru with the launch of an e-bike service. The service offered the most affordable electric two-wheeler rides in India, priced about 30 per cent lower than those of our competitors. This move led to a substantial 40 per cent market expansion in the category within three months.

To date, Ola said it has accomplished more than 1.75 million rides. In addition, it has also set up 200 charging stations in Bengaluru to service the fleet.

The firm is also betting big on technology. Here, it is enhancing customer and partner services, as well as optimizing platform efficiency for an overall elevated experience with services like Ola Maps and artificial intelligence-powered customer care.

Financial services are another big area.

This includes an increased focus on the asset finance vertical with bank tie-ups and better insurance and process experience, with a focus on partners and riders. It already has about 6 million monthly active users on its financial services platform.

Ola is also focusing on logistics and e-commerce. This consists of a multi-work model combined with the company’s large customer base, financial services offerings, gig-worker platform, and technology capabilities to leverage the government-backed Open Network for Digital Commerce.