New Delhi: Ola has a change of guard.
According to a report in Moneycontrol, Bhavish Agarwal, founder and chief executive officer (CEO) of the SoftBank-backed ride-hailing firm, will step down from the day-to-day operations of the company.
Agarwal has decided to focus more on engineering, team building and products, besides looking at long-term strategic projects such as innovations in two-wheelers, cars and accelerated commerce and global expansion.
He will be replaced by GR Arun Kumar, Group Chief Financial Officer (CFO) of Ola and Ola Electric, who joined the firm less than a year ago. As per reports, Arun will now run the day-to-day operations of the entire group. The top-level change comes at a time when the company is in talks for a fresh round of funding.
Agarwal has sent an internal note to employees on April 11 as Ola electric scooters have come under fire over quality issues.
As per the note, Agarwal said, “In order to drive scale, speed and quality, we need to execute with intense attention to detail and each team has to work in sync with everyone. And in parallel, we need to keep innovating in new and exciting opportunities to make a big impact. I will spend more time on all engineering tasks, team building and product. I will also focus on our long-term strategic projects, including new 2W products, our car project, innovation in accelerated commerce, the electrification of ride-hailing, our cell R&D and factories, international expansion, and our Pune technology. construction is included. Center and FutureFoundry UK, and more.”
He also added, “I am expanding the role of Arun GR to help me run the day-to-day operations of the group to ensure that we have adequate focus on the execution of existing businesses.”
“Arun joined Ola a year back and over the last year, he has been extremely influential. As CFO, working with everyone across Manufacturing, Supply Chain, S&OP, Manufacturing Lead, Mobility, Auto Retail, Accelerated Commerce for Ola Electric and running OFS as Interim CEO, he has been very effective , “They said.
Agarwal said Arun will work with all of our leaders across teams to drive our key metrics, lead reviews across businesses, and drive key cross-team projects, effectively making them the most powerful executive after the CEO.
Ola, which was planning to launch an IPO this year, is now planning to raise a fresh funding round at a lower valuation. Agarwal had said that Ola plans to go public in the first half of 2022 at the Reuters Next Conference in December last year.
It has also acquired Avail Finance, a firm promoted by Agarwal’s younger brother Ankush Agarwal, which has raised red flags on governance and integrity.
Ola’s final value was $7.3 billion when it raised $139 million in a Series J round led by Edelweiss PE, IIFL and Sunil Munjal-led Hero Enterprises, which looked like the last round of funding before the IPO. . Prior to the $139 million, it raised $500 million from Warburg Pincus and Temasek, prompting early backers Tiger and Matrix to exit the company.
Agarwal also outlined plans to build a super app that would provide not only mobility but also credit and micro-insurance.
Ola is also investing heavily in its instant grocery delivery business, Ola Dash, as it looks to build services beyond ride-hailing services. Its global rival Uber earns more from food delivery than its core taxi business.
Ola has recently seen several exits including its Chief Financial Officer Swayam Saurabh, Chief Operating Officer Gaurav Porwal, Head of Human Resources Rohit Munjal and General Counsel Sandeep Choudhary.