Ola Shuts Global Operations. Here’s Why

Ola cabs, the ride-hailing aggregator, has opted to cease its international operations “in its current form” as it focuses on expanding its electric fleet within India, the media has reported. Ola, backed by SoftBank, is winding down its operations in the UK, Australia, and New Zealand, nearly six years after venturing into international markets. The move comes as the company aims to concentrate on its domestic business in preparation for an initial public offering (IPO), as stated by an Ola spokesperson, as quoted by TechCrunch.

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“The future of mobility is electric — not just in personal mobility but also for the ride-hailing business, and there is immense opportunity for expansion in India,” an Ola spokesperson said in a statement.

“With this clear focus, we’ve reassessed our priorities and have decided to shut down our overseas ride-hailing business in its current form in the UK, Australia and New Zealand,” the statement added.

As a direct rival to Uber, Ola served customers in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Gold Coast, Perth, Adelaide, and Canberra. However, Ola significantly reduced its operations throughout Australia in late 2020, leading to extensive staff layoffs and the closure of local driver offices.

The company has maintained silence on its Australian social media accounts, with no new posts since mid-2021.

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With a valuation of $5.4 billion in its latest funding round, Ola stands as one of the most prominent startups in India, supported by major investors such as Temasek, Tiger Global as well as Warburg Pincus. In December last year, the startup filed a draft red herring prospectus (DRHP), aiming to raise up to Rs 5,500 crore through a fresh issue, alongside a sale offer of 95.2 million shares by existing investors.

Notably, co-founder of Ola, Bhavish Aggarwal’s AI startup named Krutrim gained unicorn status earlier this year, after securing $50 million in funding from investors including Matrix Partners India.

The firm in a blog post made the announcement that it became the first Indian AI startup to gain a billion-dollar valuation, a mere month after debuting a large language model. Krutrim, which means ‘artificial’ in Sanskrit, is developing data centres with the aim of creating servers and supercomputers for the AI ecosystem.