Ola Electric

2017–2019

Ola Electric was established in 2017 as a wholly owned subsidiary of ANI Technologies, the parent entity of Ola Cabs.[9][10] The company was started to reduce emission and fuel dependency of Ola's cabs, and shift to mass electric mobility; a pilot program was launched in Nagpur in May 2017 by setting up charging stations across the city and procuring electric cabs, e-buses, and e-rickshaws from OEM partners.[11][12] In April 2018, it announced that it aims to have 1 million electric vehicles in its cab service by 2022.[13]

Between December 2018 and January 2019, founder Bhavish Aggarwal bought a 92.5% stake in Ola Electric from ANI Technologies at a valuation of ₹1 lakh (about US$1,400 then), and Ola Electric was spun-off as a separate entity. ANI Technologies continued to hold a 7.5% stake in Ola Electric for allowing the use of "Ola" brand name.[14]

In February 2019, Ola Electric raised US$56 million from Tiger Global and Matrix India.[15] The company announced on 6 May 2019 that Ratan Tata had invested an undisclosed amount in Ola Electric as part of its Series A round of funding.[16] It raised $250 million from SoftBank during Series B round funding in July 2019, at a valuation of over $1 billion.[17]

2020–present

In May 2020, Ola Electric acquired Etergo, an Amsterdam-based crowdfunded electric scooter manufacturer, for €3.75 million in a distress sale.[18] Ola Electric announced that it would launch its own line of electric scooters in India by 2021.[19]

In December 2020, the company announced its plan to set up the world's largest two wheeler factory (called the Future Factory) in Tamil Nadu at a cost of inr 24000000000 after signing a memorandum with the Government of Tamil Nadu.[20] It acquired a 500-acre land in Pochampalli, Krishnagiri District in January 2021; the construction work for the factory began in late February.[21] Ola Electric received 500,000 bookings for scooters in the first month of availability.[22]

Ola Electric started delivering its S1 and S1 Pro models in December 2021 with the deliveries of 100 scooters in Bengaluru and Chennai, although some promised features were not enabled in initial deliveries.[23][24]

Ola Electric raised more than $200 million from Falcon Edge, SoftBank Group and others at a valuation of $3 billion in September 2021.[25] In December the same year, it raised $53 million in an investment round led by Singaporean investment firm, Temasek.[26] In January 2022, Ola Electric raised US$200 million from multiple investors at a valuation of US$5 billion.[27]

In late March 2022, Ola made a strategic investment in Israel-based battery technology company StoreDot to incorporate and manufacture its XFC (extreme fast charging) battery technologies for future vehicles in India.[28] In the wake of a fire incident in its scooter in Pune on 26 March, the company recalled a batch of 1,441 scooters in April as a "pre-emptive measure".[29]

On 20 June 2022, Ola Electric teased its first sedan electric car.[30] However, two years later, the company scrapped its plan to launch electric cars, choosing to focus on electric scooters and motorcycles.[31]

In July 2022, CEO Bhavish Aggarwal announced that the company was building Battery Innovation Center (BIC) in Bangalore, which would be Asia's largest cell R&D facility, with an investment of $500 million.[32]

In October 2023, the company raised $140 million in equity and $240 million in debt, at a valuation of $5.4 billion, to set up a lithium-ion battery manufacturing facility in Tamil Nadu called Ola Gigafactory.[33][34]

On 2 August 2024, Ola Electric launched its initial public offering (IPO) and raised ₹5,500 crore. Existing investors, including founder Aggarwal, sold 84.9 million shares in the IPO.[35][36]

On 15 August 2024, Ola Electric unveiled the prototype of its first electric motorcycle series, named Roadster, which was announced to be launched in three variants in 2025.[37] In September 2024, Aggarwal announced that Ola Electric will unveil its electric three-wheeler later that year.[38]