 "Hemant Bakshi, chief executive officer of ANI Technologies, the parent company of ride-hailing service Ola Cabs")
Hemant Bakshi, chief executive officer of ANI Technologies, the parent company of ride-hailing service Ola Cabs, has resigned after four months into this role. The departure of Bakshi, a former senior Unilever executive, coincides with a restructuring exercise at the company that will impact at least 10 per cent of the 1800-strong workforce, sources said.
The restructuring is part of a broader push towards profitability as Ola Cabs prepares for an initial public offering (IPO). “Hemant Bakshi had joined Ola last year in September last year (he was appointed CEO in January this year) and now wants to pursue other opportunities,” said a person familiar with the matter.
Ola Cabs is planning an IPO to raise $500 million, valuing the company at approximately $5 billion. The company plans to file the necessary paperwork with Securities and Exchange Board of India within the next three months, according to the sources.
In the interim, Ola founder Bhavish Aggarwal will oversee operations until a new executive is appointed. “Hemant (Bakshi) will be stepping down from his role as CEO to pursue opportunities outside the company. We extend our gratitude to Hemant for his contributions and wish him the best in his future endeavours,” said Bhavish Aggarwal, founder, chairman, and managing director, Ola, in a letter to the employees and a copy of which Business Standard has seen.
In the letter, Aggarwal said that in line with the company’s vision to serve 1 billion Indians and drive sustainable growth and efficiency in the organisation, the company is undergoing a restructuring exercise to improve profitability. The firm has made substantial investments in artificial intelligence and technology. “These changes will result in certain roles within the company becoming redundant,” stated Aggarwal. “We are committed to supporting those impacted during this transition period.”
More From This Section
When contacted, Ola Cabs declined to comment.
Recently, Ola Cabs decided to exit all of its international markets, including the United Kingdom, Australia, and New Zealand and focus on the Indian market and growing its electric vehicle (EV) fleet. It said that the ride-hailing business is growing rapidly in India, where they are profitable and are segment leaders. Ola Cabs has been operating in these international markets since 2018.
Earlier this year, Ola announced that its India mobility business turned Ebitda (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortisation) positive in FY23, making it one of the few Indian internet companies to achieve this feat. The SoftBank-backed company also named Bakshi CEO of Ola Cabs, leading its mobility business with a 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 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 total revenue (Ola’s India mobility business) increased by 48 per cent in FY23 to Rs 2,135 crore from Rs 1,350 crore in FY22. It achieved a segment-adjusted Ebitda of Rs 250 crore in FY23.
Ola, earlier said, it is poised to reimagine and redefine mobility, with a vision to serve a billion Indian consumers and economically empower 10 million partners.
The company has also made several new appointments in the past month, including hiring Kartik Gupta (ex-P&G executive) as chief financial officer and Sidharth Shakdher (ex-Hotstar executive) as chief business officer.
Ola Electric, the company’s sister firm, filed its draft red herring prospectus with the markets regulator in December to raise around Rs 7,250 crore via an IPO.
Ola Cabs is exiting all of its international markets, including the United Kingdom, Australia, and New Zealand, to focus on the Indian market and expand its electric vehicle (EV) fleet. Ola Cabs stated that the ride-hailing business is growing rapidly in India, where they are profitable and are segment leaders.
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. 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.
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. 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.
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.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.
