Ola Electric secures Sebi nod for Rs 5,500-crore IPO

India’s largest electric two-wheeler maker Ola Electric has secured markets regulator Sebi’s nod for its initial public offering (IPO), people aware of the matter said.

This would be the first by an EV startup in the country and amongst the biggest new-age IPOs this year.

The Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) is expected to formally issue the approval in the coming days, the sources said.


Ola Electric did not reply to a request for comment as of press time Tuesday.

The Bengaluru-based company had filed its draft red herring prospectus (DRHP) with Sebi on December 22, proposing to raise up to Rs 5,500 crore through a fresh issue, apart from an offer-for-sale (OFS) component of 95.2 million shares.

It is eyeing a $6-billion valuation through the public offering, sources aware of latest plans said.

The Sebi nod has come at a time when the firm is preparing to cut over 600 jobs across various verticals as part of cost-cutting measures. ET first reported about the layoffs at Ola Electric on June 3, roughly a month after sister firm Ola Cabs laid off 200 employees and saw its CEO Hemant Bakshi and CFO Kartik Gupta leave the firm. At the same time, Ola Electric’s former chief business officer Ankush Aggarwal moved back to the ride-hailing business. F

At the time of filing its draft IPO papers, the S1 Pro electric scooter maker said it had 3,733 employees as of October 2023.

Other prominent new-age startups Swiggy and FirstCry have also filed their draft IPO papers and are awaiting regulatory clearance. Coworking startup Awfis has gone public while travel site Ixigo’s IPO offering was oversubscribed on day 1 on Monday.

According to Ola Electric’s draft IPO papers, Aggarwal will sell up to 47.4 million shares, or around 1.3% stake, via the IPO followed by SoftBank Vision Fund (23.8 million), Tiger Global (6.4 million), Alpha Wave Global (3.8 million), Matrix Partners India (3.7 million) and Temasek (1.3 million).

At a valuation of $6 billion, Aggarwal could make around $78 million from the share sale.

Of the total proceeds from the public listing, Rs 1,226 crore will be used for expanding capacity at the company’s cell manufacturing plant, Ola Gigafactory, to 6.4 GWh from 5 GWh, according to the draft IPO papers. The firm will use Rs 1,405 crore to repay loans taken by subsidiary Ola Electric Technology (OET) from Bank of Baroda, Axis Bank and Yes Bank, while it will invest Rs 1,600 crore in research and product development.

Ola Electric had posted a net loss of Rs 1,472 crore for FY23 on operating revenue of Rs 2,631 crore. For the first quarter of FY24, it reported a net loss of Rs 267 crore on operating revenue of Rs 1,243 crore.

Ola Electric currently dominates the electric two-wheeler market in the country, selling over 37,000 scooters and cornering a 50% market share in May.

The overall electric two-wheeler market has also grown, with sales jumping 33% in FY24 to over 900,000 units, with Ola Electric accounting for nearly every third unit sold in that duration.

Ola Electric competes with legacy players like TVS Motors and Bajaj Auto as well as startups such as Bengaluru-based Ather Energy in the space.

Ather is also finalising plans to raise $75-90 million (about Rs 750 crore) in primary funding from new and existing investors, ET reported on April 23, as it ramps up production and launches its family scooter called Rizta, which will be directly competing with the mainstays of Ola Electric, TVS and Bajaj.