As Bhavish Aggarwal pushes ahead with the restructuring of his group companies, the intellectual property (IP) rights for the Ola brand—currently housed under ANI Technologies—are likely to be moved to a new holding entity controlled by his family office, according to people familiar with the matter.
The reorganisation has triggered pushback from a section of ANI shareholders that fears losing out on royalty income from the brand licence, these people said.
ANI Technologies operates the group’s ride-hailing business and holds the brand IP, which is currently licensed to Ola Electric, a separately listed electric vehicle (EV) company, in exchange for a fee.
The proposed shift in ownership comes amid broader questions over the cross-holding of assets within the Ola ecosystem. The firms–ranging from ANI to Ola Electric and AI startup Krutrim–have overlapping but distinct shareholder bases.
For instance, Ola Maps was recently transferred from ANI to Krutrim AI, with the asset valued at Rs 40 crore, people aware of the transaction said.
“Our group structure is being proactively realigned to unlock greater value and operational agility as the broader markets and industries evolve,” an Ola spokesperson told ET. “This rejig will be undertaken thoughtfully and communicated at the right time.”
The spokesperson said the group comprises multiple high-growth businesses, which are “not only individually strong, but also strategically synergistic, amplifying each other’s impact across mobility, EVs and energy storage, and AI.”
In 2017, when Ola Electric was carved out of ANI Technologies as a separate entity—not a subsidiary—investors raised similar questions over resource sharing and strategic control.
ANI shareholders such as Warburg Pincus, Vanguard, Steadview Capital and DST Global do not have stakes in Ola Electric and Krutrim AI.
The likes of SoftBank, Hyundai Motor, Temasek, Tencent, Tiger Global and Alpha Wave Global have backed Ola Electric as well as ANI.
Venture capital firm Z47 (formerly Matrix Partners India) and former Vodafone chief executive Arun Sarin’s family office are investors in all three entities.
Aggarwal currently holds 8-9% of ANI Technologies, over 30% of Ola Electric, and close to 90% of Krutrim AI, based on filings and people familiar with the cap table.
Raising capital
The realignment comes at a time when the various verticals headed by Aggarwal are entering new lines of business that need heavy investment, said one of the persons cited.
AI startup Krutrim plans to enter several capital-intensive areas such as building large language models (LLMs) and artificial intelligence (AI) chips.
In February, Aggarwal announced a Rs 2,000-crore investment in Krutrim, committing to a total of Rs 10,000 crore by next year. To help finance this, he has pledged 2.4% of his stake in Ola Electric, currently worth around Rs 520 crore, and plans to route investments through the BA Family Office, which will act as the umbrella holding entity.
“The holding entity will also manage funds raised by Aggarwal from personal stake sales across these firms,” said a person in the know.
Last year, ahead of Ola Electric’s initial public offering (IPO), Aggarwal realised Rs 288 crore via a stake sale. His remaining stake in the EV firm is valued at Rs 6,433 crore, while ANI Technologies’ nearly 4% holding in Ola Electric is worth Rs 771 crore.
IPO overhang
Efforts to take ANI Technologies public have been in motion since 2020, but the process has been repeatedly stalled. ET reported in January that Ola Consumer —operated by ANI—is expected to go public by March 2026, but people briefed on the development said these plans are likely on the backburner for now.
Last year, the company rebranded Ola Cabs to Ola Consumer, indicating a shift in focus away from ride-hailing to newer segments.
Currently, the consumer business is being recalibrated as it gets into food delivery via the government-backed Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC), cloud kitchens and operating the dark store-as-a-service model in the buzzy quick commerce segment, even as it fends off competition from WestBridge Capital-backed Rapido in ride-hailing.
ET reported on April 1 that the second-placed Ola had 30% market share in the four-wheeler ride-hailing segment, with Rapido having 20% share, which is growing fast. Uber is the market leader with a 50% share.
In FY24, ANI Technologies reported consolidated revenue of Rs 2,203 crore, down 3% from Rs 2,277 crore in FY23, according to Registrar of Companies filings. Its loss narrowed to Rs 216 crore, from Rs 388 crore a year earlier.
Over the past year, Ola’s valuation has been cut by its investors. Vanguard valued Ola at $2 billion as of August 2024–a sharp fall from the peak of $7.3 billion in 2021, when the company raised $139 million in new funding.
Ola Electric woes
Meanwhile, Ola Electric, once the clear leader in the electric two-wheeler market, has been facing increasing competitive pressure from new-age players such as IPO-bound Ather Energy, as well as legacy companies such as Bajaj Auto and TVS Motor.
In April, Ola Electric posted a 42% year-on-year drop in sales, ceding the leadership position to TVS Motor.
Ola Electric also continues to burn cash and in the December 2024 quarter, net loss widened by 50% to Rs 564 crore from Rs 376 crore a year earlier, primarily due to intensified competition and after-sales service challenges.
On May 1, ratings agency Icra downgraded subsidiary Ola Electric Technologies’ debt instruments due to “slower-than-expected scale-up” in two-wheeler sales volumes that has “resulted in a longer-than-expected period of cash burn and has elongated the road to the company’s profitability. Consequently, the company may need to explore additional fundraising options over the next 12-24 months as existing cash balances gradually moderate.”
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ANI Technologies operates the group’s ride-hailing business and holds the brand IP, which is currently licensed to Ola Electric, a separately listed electric vehicle (EV) company, in exchange for a fee.
The proposed shift in ownership comes amid broader questions over the cross-holding of assets within the Ola ecosystem. The firms–ranging from ANI to Ola Electric and AI startup Krutrim–have overlapping but distinct shareholder bases.
For instance, Ola Maps was recently transferred from ANI to Krutrim AI, with the asset valued at Rs 40 crore, people aware of the transaction said.
“Our group structure is being proactively realigned to unlock greater value and operational agility as the broader markets and industries evolve,” an Ola spokesperson told ET. “This rejig will be undertaken thoughtfully and communicated at the right time.”
The spokesperson said the group comprises multiple high-growth businesses, which are “not only individually strong, but also strategically synergistic, amplifying each other’s impact across mobility, EVs and energy storage, and AI.”
In 2017, when Ola Electric was carved out of ANI Technologies as a separate entity—not a subsidiary—investors raised similar questions over resource sharing and strategic control.
ANI shareholders such as Warburg Pincus, Vanguard, Steadview Capital and DST Global do not have stakes in Ola Electric and Krutrim AI.
The likes of SoftBank, Hyundai Motor, Temasek, Tencent, Tiger Global and Alpha Wave Global have backed Ola Electric as well as ANI.
Venture capital firm Z47 (formerly Matrix Partners India) and former Vodafone chief executive Arun Sarin’s family office are investors in all three entities.
Aggarwal currently holds 8-9% of ANI Technologies, over 30% of Ola Electric, and close to 90% of Krutrim AI, based on filings and people familiar with the cap table.
Raising capital
The realignment comes at a time when the various verticals headed by Aggarwal are entering new lines of business that need heavy investment, said one of the persons cited.
AI startup Krutrim plans to enter several capital-intensive areas such as building large language models (LLMs) and artificial intelligence (AI) chips.
In February, Aggarwal announced a Rs 2,000-crore investment in Krutrim, committing to a total of Rs 10,000 crore by next year. To help finance this, he has pledged 2.4% of his stake in Ola Electric, currently worth around Rs 520 crore, and plans to route investments through the BA Family Office, which will act as the umbrella holding entity.
“The holding entity will also manage funds raised by Aggarwal from personal stake sales across these firms,” said a person in the know.
Last year, ahead of Ola Electric’s initial public offering (IPO), Aggarwal realised Rs 288 crore via a stake sale. His remaining stake in the EV firm is valued at Rs 6,433 crore, while ANI Technologies’ nearly 4% holding in Ola Electric is worth Rs 771 crore.
IPO overhang
Efforts to take ANI Technologies public have been in motion since 2020, but the process has been repeatedly stalled. ET reported in January that Ola Consumer —operated by ANI—is expected to go public by March 2026, but people briefed on the development said these plans are likely on the backburner for now.
Last year, the company rebranded Ola Cabs to Ola Consumer, indicating a shift in focus away from ride-hailing to newer segments.
Currently, the consumer business is being recalibrated as it gets into food delivery via the government-backed Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC), cloud kitchens and operating the dark store-as-a-service model in the buzzy quick commerce segment, even as it fends off competition from WestBridge Capital-backed Rapido in ride-hailing.
ET reported on April 1 that the second-placed Ola had 30% market share in the four-wheeler ride-hailing segment, with Rapido having 20% share, which is growing fast. Uber is the market leader with a 50% share.
In FY24, ANI Technologies reported consolidated revenue of Rs 2,203 crore, down 3% from Rs 2,277 crore in FY23, according to Registrar of Companies filings. Its loss narrowed to Rs 216 crore, from Rs 388 crore a year earlier.
Over the past year, Ola’s valuation has been cut by its investors. Vanguard valued Ola at $2 billion as of August 2024–a sharp fall from the peak of $7.3 billion in 2021, when the company raised $139 million in new funding.
Ola Electric woes
Meanwhile, Ola Electric, once the clear leader in the electric two-wheeler market, has been facing increasing competitive pressure from new-age players such as IPO-bound Ather Energy, as well as legacy companies such as Bajaj Auto and TVS Motor.
In April, Ola Electric posted a 42% year-on-year drop in sales, ceding the leadership position to TVS Motor.
Ola Electric also continues to burn cash and in the December 2024 quarter, net loss widened by 50% to Rs 564 crore from Rs 376 crore a year earlier, primarily due to intensified competition and after-sales service challenges.
On May 1, ratings agency Icra downgraded subsidiary Ola Electric Technologies’ debt instruments due to “slower-than-expected scale-up” in two-wheeler sales volumes that has “resulted in a longer-than-expected period of cash burn and has elongated the road to the company’s profitability. Consequently, the company may need to explore additional fundraising options over the next 12-24 months as existing cash balances gradually moderate.”
