Ola Electric Fastracks IPO Plans
Ola Electric Mobility Pvt. is on track to go public sooner than its founder anticipated, reflecting the Indian startup's brisk growth since it began selling electric scooters in late 2021.
"I thought it would take four to six years of revenue for me to go public," said Founder and CEO Bhavish Aggarwal in an interview while sipping iced Vietnamese coffee in New Delhi's bustling Connaught Place. "I have a feeling it will be much sooner now." Ola Electric has grown and matured faster than I had anticipated due to a strong market response."
The company, backed by SoftBank Group Corp. and Tiger Global Management, has a 38% market share in India's electric scooter market. According to data from the Society of Manufacturers of Electric Vehicles, it has sold more than 239,000 electric scooters since December 2021.
While the majority of Ola Electric's customers began as first-time scooter buyers, most are now full-fledged converts, according to 37-year-old Aggarwal, who was dressed in a black Nehru jacket popularised by India's first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru and later, The Beatles.