Bhavish Aggarwal-led Ola Cabs is likely to appoint Unilever executive Hemant Bakshi as its CEO.
Bakshi is likely to join the ride-hailing startup next week, Economic Times reported citing sources. However, it is not clear if he would be leading just the cabs vertical or Ola Cabs’ parent entity ANI Technologies.
Ola Cabs declined to comment on the development.
The appointment of the new CEO is significant as so far founder Aggarwal was looking after the cab vertical as well as electric vehicle (EV) startup Ola Electric which he started later.
Bakshi is based out of Singapore and has worked with Unilever for over 15 years. Currently, he is associated with the FMCG major as the EVP of Unilever Marketplace and chairman of Unilever Indonesia.
He graduated from the Indian Institute of Technology and did his MBA from the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad.
The latest development comes at a time when Aggarwal is focusing on the initial public offering (IPO) of Ola Electric.
Last month, Aggarwal also said that the ride-hailing company was planning to join the Open Network Digital Commerce (ONDC).
Meanwhile, Ola Cabs launched Ola Prime Plus service in Bengaluru earlier this year to address the problem of ride cancellation by drivers. Last month, the company expanded the no-cancellation service to Mumbai, Pune and Hyderabad.
Currently, Ola offers cab services on demand for both inter-city and intra-city rides. It also offers auto and bike services. Ola competes with the likes of Uber, Rapido, Blusmart Mobility, Meru Cabs, among others.
Like many other startups, the company continues to struggle with mounting losses. ANI Technologies reported a loss of INR 1,522 Cr in the financial year 2021-22, up over 36% from INR 1,116 Cr in FY21. The ride-hailing business generated a revenue of INR 1,220.2 Cr during the year under review.
Ola has also fired over 2,500 employees since last year amid the ongoing funding winter and increasing losses. Meanwhile, investment firm Vanguard slashed the valuation of the ride-hailing startup twice this year. It cut the valuation of its stake in the startup by 51.6% to $25 Mn, as of May 2023, which translated to a valuation of $3.5 Bn for the company.
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