IPO-Bound Ola Electric Sees Top-Level Exits

Ahead of its planned public listing in 2024, electric vehicle (EV) maker Ola Electric has been hit by top-level exits. 

Ola Electric’s head of strategy and planning, Slokarth Dash, and head of growth and corporate affairs, Saurabh Sharda, have resigned from the company. 

Confirming the development, an Ola spokesperson, in a statement, said, “Slokarth and Saurabh have delivered well for the company for over seven years, and we wish them well in their future pursuits.”

The development was first reported by Livemint. As per the report, two other senior executives have also tendered their resignations and are expected to depart in the coming two months. There was no clarity on the identity of these two executives. However, the EV major rejected this, calling it a ‘mischievous attempt’ to build a fake narrative. 

“This is a mischievous attempt to build a fake narrative. At Ola, we’ve built a world-class and highly experienced leadership team and hired more than 50 veterans just in the last year from Indian & global firms like Tesla, Apple, LG, among others. India is the future hub for tech and top global talent is eagerly joining new age companies like ours. Ola is the largest EV company in India thanks to the efforts of our world-class team,” added the Ola spokesperson.

Both Dash and Sharda are said to have worked closely with founder and chief executive officer (CEO) Bhavish Aggarwal. 

While Dash joined the ride-hailing company in 2015 as the program manager of leasing operations and strategy, he was elevated as the head of strategy and planning at Ola Electric in 2020. 

On the other hand, Sharda joined Ola as an associate director in 2016 and rose quickly to his current position, as part of the core team, at the EV maker in 2019. 

The exits come just a month after Aggarwal told a publication that, “I have a purpose and passion. Sometimes in the journey of a business, people don’t align with it and those separations are not as one wants. That sometimes leads to bitterness and sometimes the bitterness gets amplified.”

Dash and Sharda’s resignations come as Ola Electric prepares for its high-profile $1 Bn public listing next year. While the company is leading the two-wheeler EV ecosystem in terms of sales, it has been plagued by a series of issues, including a spate of fires involving its vehicles and the Centre’s decision to cut incentives under the FAME-II scheme.

Not just this, it was reported last month that Ola Electric missed its revenue goal in the financial year 2022-23 (FY23). The company posted a revenue of nearly INR 2,750 Cr during the year and raked up an operating loss of nearly INR 1,116 Cr.