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Ola Money: Fintech Venture Raises 205 Cr, Designates New CEO

Ola Financial Services recently raised 205 Cr finance from Matrix Partners. The company now has a valuation of over 1,875 Cr
Ola Financial Services recently raised 205 Cr finance from Matrix Partners. The company now has a valuation of over 1,875 Cr rupees.

Ola Money’s parent company Ola Financial Services (OFS), recently raised 205 Cr finance from Matrix Partners. Apart from Matrix Partners, Gemini Investments LP, Alpha Wave Holdings, and Arun Sarin’s family participated in the last round of funding, as per the corporate affairs ministry. With the latest finances, Ola now has a valuation of over 1,875 Cr rupees as per the sources by Moneycontrol. However, the company has not yet commented regarding the latest fundings.

Appointment of New OFS CEO

Ola Financial Services made specific changes in its leadership. Since the year 2017, Nitin Gupta has been the CEO of the company. However, he is now is moving on to get an active role in the Ola cab-hailing service. Now, Harish Abhichandani will be taking over the position of new CEO of Ola Financial Services. Previously, he was CRO and interim head of Ola UK.

Ola CEO - Bhavish Aggarwal
Ola CEO – Bhavish Aggarwal

Ola CEO Bhavish Aggarwal, in his emails to employees, read that Nitin Gupta is now moving to an active role at Ola. He further discussed how Nitin is a steadfast entrepreneur and how he has built a great foundation in OFS business.

Bhavish also talked about financial operations in global marketing, including India, in his email. He said that these services are provided quite inadequately because of specific causes like poor distribution, low trust, and product complications. Bhavish further talks to his employees to use the current scenario as an opportunity through its core cab-hailing platform. The company is mainly focusing on providing services and products on a consumer and digital-first basis.

Ola laid off its over 1,400 employees as its revenue dropped by 95%

Ola, a hailing cab service, was founded by Bhavish Aggarwal and Ankit Bhati in January 2011. OLa has grown its business to over 50 cities across India, along with the UK, Australia, and New Zealand. In the previous year, Ola also announced its plan to enter the food tech market with Ola Foods; however, Ola Electric and Ola Money remains the primary two pillars of the organization.

The latest round of fundings came a week after Ola laid off its over 1,400 employees from Ola cab-hailing, Ola Foods, and OFS as its revenue dropped by 95% due to COVID-19 situation from the previous two months. However, Bhavish said that with the latest funding, there wouldn’t be a need to make any cuts related to coronavirus spread.

All the employees were informed by HR on a one-on-one conversation with a company offering three months of fixed salary as a severance pay regardless of the notice period. Further, employees who have spent more time will get higher payouts according to their company’s tenure.

On May 27, Ola Electric stated that it had acquired electric scooter OEM electric Etergo BV based in Amsterdam. With the recent acquirement, Ola Electric has also announced its entry into the market of premium two-wheelers worldwide, including India.

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