Problems continue to pile up at Ola. Early backer Vanguard has marked down the ride-hailing giant’s valuation to about $70 Mn on its books, a near-total collapse from the $7 Bn in 2021. With losses widening and market share eroding, can Ola make a comeback?

The Valuation Reset: The latest markdown underscores how far Ola has fallen. Vanguard, which first backed the company in 2015, now values its holding in Ola at about $728K. This is the latest in a series of valuation cuts by Vanguard, which valued the startup at $1.88 Bn in early 2024 and $1.25 Bn in May 2025. 

The move does not set Ola’s market price, but it is a strong signal of how investors view the company’s future.

Ola’s Financial Strain: The operational picture is not helping. Ola Consumer’s losses more than doubled YoY to ₹662 Cr in FY25, while operating revenue tanked to ₹1,171 Cr. Its accumulated losses stood ₹21,000 Cr at the end of March 2025, along with debt obligations of over ₹586 Cr. The startup says it still has liquidity to meet the obligations, but the cash burn suggests that it is under pressure to preserve its runway.

Tightening Rivalry: The mark down comes as the company is struggling to maintain its dominance in the ride-hailing market. Once seen as India’s main ride-hailing player, Ola has been pushed back by a faster-moving market. Uber remains a major rival, but Rapido has emerged as the more disruptive force, overtaking the Bhavish Aggarwal-led startup in market share. 

The IPO Question: The timing makes the valuation cut especially awkward. Ola has already begun IPO preparations. But, as Moody’s flagged in November last year, weak operating performance, higher-than-expected cash burn and the risk of covenant breach have put the startup on the backfoot. 

With the ride-hailing giant slated to go all out to convince public investors, here is all about Vanguard marking down Ola…

• The omnichannel jewellery brand expects to cross ₹12,000 Cr in annual revenue by FY30, almost 5X of its FY26 total revenue of ₹2,486 Cr, on the back of its aggressive store expansion.
• BlueStone is also projecting a 30% CAGR increase in its same store sales growth, while sales from its new store additions is expected to rake in around 20% CAGR.
• Not just store expansion, the listed startup is also relying on new users, growth in wallet share and repeat purchase to drive revenue. For context, the average order value stood at ₹66,000 in FY26, while customer base hovered around the 9.4 Lakh mark.

• The sportswear startup has raised ₹225 Cr in a funding round from Rainmatter and existing backer Nexus Venture Partners. While the latter invested ₹200 Cr, Zerodha’s investment arm infused ₹25 Cr.
• This comes days after actor Anushka Sharma joined the startup as a strategic investor and co-creator for “One8 Yoga”, a new yoga-focused activewear line under the One8 brand.
• Founded in 2023, Agilitas is a vertically integrated sportswear startup that designs, manufactures and distributes athleisure products. Having raised over $68 Mn to date, Agilitas claimed that its manufacturing business revenue grew to ₹1,350 Cr in FY26.

• The PhonePe-owned app marketplace’s cofounder and CPO Akash Dongre has stepped down from his role after a decade-long stint. There appears no clarity on what he plans to do next. 
• Priya Narasimhan, who has been serving as Indus’ Chief Business Officer since January 2024, will now lead Indus Appstore moving forward. 
• Dongre cofounded the app marketplace in 2013 as Indus OS, a smartphone operating system focused on regional languages. The platform was acquired by the Walmart-owned fintech giant for $90 Mn in 2022 after a prolonged legal battle. 

• The D2C fragrance brand has raised about ₹29 Cr in its Series A round led by V3 Ventures to build its brand identity, improve omnichannel distribution, and expand its product line by introducing other body care products.
• Founded in 2023, Fraganote sells fragrances and claims to have 42 SKUs under its belt. Including the current round, it has raised $4 Mn to date. 
• The D2C brand also operates 14 offline kiosks in tier I and tier II cities, which it plans to increase to 100 by 2026-end. The startup also claims to have a customer base of 3 Lakh and a 35% repeat rate. Its average order value currently stands at ₹1,500.

• The omnichannel eyewear giant’s early backer SoftBank has sold 5.65 Cr Lenskart shares in a block deal worth ₹2,873.3 Cr. As per NSE, SoftBank Vision Fund II sold the shares at ₹508.55 apiece to rake in the amount, diluting a quarter of its shareholding.
• Of the shares that flooded the market, financial services giant Societe Generale picked up shares worth ₹698.44 Cr. 
• SoftBank first invested in Lenskart in December 2019, when it led the startup’s $275 Mn funding round. The Japanese tech investor has since offloaded the startup’s shares on multiple occasions, including Lenskart’s IPO.

Inside factories and warehouses, moving materials remains an inefficient task. Manual handling, fragmented workflows and labour shortages continue to slow operations and increase risks. GOAT Robotics is trying to solve this problem with its integrated approach.

Beyond Robots: Founded in 2023, GOAT Robotics positions itself as a turnkey intra-logistics automation provider. Instead of selling individual robots, it offers end-to-end systems that map workflows, automate movement, and integrate with existing enterprise infrastructure.

Three-Layered Stack: The startup’s solution is built across three core components. While its autonomous mobile robots handle material transport, hardware integration modules adapt these robots to different industrial use cases. Tying it together is GT Studio, a centralised software platform that manages fleet operations and integrates with ERP systems.

Scaling Automation: GOAT Robotics currently claims to serve over 15 clients across sectors like FMCG, automotive, and pharmaceuticals. In FY26, the startup reported ₹10.8 Cr in revenue and deployed 25 robots. With expansion underway across India and global markets, it is targeting ₹100 Cr in top line by 2029. So, can GOAT Robotics make automation scalable for Indian factories?

A new crop of startups are quietly cashing in on Indians planning their summer vacations. Here’s a look at the brands finding a place in India’s summer vacation basket…

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