Ola, the leading ride hailing company, is looking at an IPO in next 18-24 months. The company has been focusing on profitability prior to its IPO. It is learnt that the company has initiated a restructuring exercise. As per a PTI report citing a company spokesperson – the restructuring is aimed at becoming “more nimble and have a sharper focus on growth and profitability”. While the company has been able to cut its losses in FY19 to Rs 1,160.27 crore from Rs 2,676.70 crore in the last financial year, there is a lot more that needs to be done.
Ola was founded in 2011 as a cab aggregator and subsequently launched its ride hailing platform. Over the years, Ola had expanded its ride hailing services to international markets like UK, Australia and New Zealand. Ola has also diversified into other businesses like food delivery, electric vehicles, financial services. However, balancing growth and profitability is always a challenge in this high growth scenario.
The present move at restructuring is expected to impact about 250 roles. There may be some job losses, however, considering the company’s expansion efforts and new businesses there is a good possibility of the impacted personnel to get accommodated in its other business verticals like food delivery, financial services, etc.
Ola has been one of the high growth stories among the new age start-ups in India and has always been able to attract great talent. For next year (2020), the company has plans to hire about 150 from leading campuses for tech and management roles. The company employs over 4500 employees, and has been valued at $ 6.2 billion (May 2019). The company is backed by some top investors like SoftBank, Tiger Global and Steadview Capital.
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