NEW DELHI/BENGALURU: Ola Consumer, formerly known as Ola Cabs, said for the first time that it has begun preparations to go public, suggesting that raising money through an initial public offering is among the few options available to founder Bhavish Aggarwal to fund the cash-strapped company. Experts said raising funds would be crucial for Ola to compete with rivals Uber and Rapido.
“The Board of Directors has provided an approval for an initial public offering (IPO), and the Holding Company has commenced steps toward its IPO process,” Ola Consumer said in its annual report filed with the ministry of corporate affairs on 5 May, more than six months after the statutory deadline of 30 October.
The board approval comes after S&P Global Ratings and Moody’s Investors Service flagged the company’s declining cash position, which put it at a disadvantage to rivals Uber and Rapido. The credit rating companies noted that Ola Consumer’s cash position has become a key factor due to upcoming debt obligations and its delayed listing plans.
Even after the board approval, the company has not made any public moves to formally launch an IPO so far. Queries emailed to Ola Consumer did not elicit an immediate response.
Experts suggested that the cash-raising exercise has become crucial because Ola’s rivals Rapido and Uber are spending aggressively in the market. Ola has raised about $3.84 billion since inception from investors including SoftBank, Tencent and Z47, according to data from Tracxn.
Uber has pumped almost ₹3,000 crore into its India unit to bulk up its financial firepower and take on Bengaluru-based Rapido, which entered the current fiscal year with a stronger cash position and has rapidly gained market share, Mint reported on 26 February.
Market share
Rapido ended FY25 with ₹345 crore free cash in hand, while Uber had ₹292 crore. As per industry estimates and rating companies, Ola's market share in the cab business has dwindled to 20-25% as of last year from 40-45% in 2023. Uber's share has remained at about 45% while Rapido increased its share to over 20% as of last year.
“Ola has significantly lost share and brand equity in the market. This seems to be a cash-raising scheme to inject funds into the overall group,” said Subhabrata Sengupta, a partner at Avalon Consulting.
Amit Kaushik, founder of Mobidx Ai, a New Delhi-based automotive focused intelligence and analytics firm, said Ola will have to invest heavily in incentives, driver payments and promotion to recover market share.
“There is intense competition in the market right now and Ola has suffered owing to word of mouth. The recovery is not impossible but will need a lot of cash,” Kaushik said. “Raising cash from the public markets can provide a boost but it will depend where the company will choose to spend cash on.”
Ola Consumer’s net worth crashed 57% to ₹1,490 crore at the end of March 2025 from ₹3,451 crore at the end of March 2024, according to the company’s filings with the ministry of corporate affairs. The loss in net worth was due to two reasons. First, operating losses surged from ₹334.3 crore to ₹662.2 crore. Second, Ola reported a ₹1,312.3 crore loss in other comprehensive income after an almost 50% decline in Ola Electric's share price from August 2024 to March 2025. Ola Electric is the group’s electric two-wheeler manufacturer.
Losses, cash
Since it was founded in 2010, Ola Consumer has accumulated losses of ₹21,213 crore. At the end of March 2025, the company had ₹180.3 crore in cash and cash equivalents compared with ₹374.1 crore at the end of March 2024. Including investments in mutual funds and fixed deposits, Ola Consumer’s total cash and bank balances stood at ₹652.8 crore, compared with ₹1,394.8 crore at the end of March 2024.
This implies that Ola Consumer’s operating cash burn was ₹742 crore in FY25. ANI Technologies, which operates Ola Consumer, had total borrowings of ₹586.2 crore at the end of March 2025.
Ola Consumer’s revenue from the cab business totalled ₹924.5 crore in FY25. Financial services accounted for ₹185.5 crore, followed by logistics and others, which accounted for ₹60.9 crore. Together, Ola Consumer’s revenue totalled ₹1,170.9 crore.
“Larger peers such as Uber have stronger balance sheets and can remain competitive with incentives and discounts for drivers and consumers, respectively, to grow and maintain their strong market share,” S&P said in a note on 10 December. “ANI Tech has also continually delayed its IPO plans since 2020. A failure to secure an extension of the IPO deadline from its compulsorily convertible preference shares (CCPS) holders would mean the CCPS holders could exercise their exit rights in the absence of an IPO.”