Markdown Season: Vanguard Slashes Ola’s Valuation By 35% To $4.8 Bn

US-based investment firm Vanguard Group has reportedly reduced the value of ride-hailing startup Ola by 35% from $7.4 Bn to $4.8 Bn.

According to Tracxn data, Vanguard holds 1,66,185 shares, or about a 0.7% stake, of ANI Technologies, the parent company of Ola. Vanguard pegged the value of its stake in Ola at $33.865 Mn on February 28, 2023, down from $51.825 Mn in August 2022.

This is the third time Ola’s valuation has been marked down by Vanguard. The investor cut the ride-hailing startup’s valuation by 45% in the first half of 2020 and by another 9.5% in 2021.

Ola’s valuation markdown has come at a time when the company is expecting to list on the Indian bourses early next year. The ride-hailing startup has been struggling amid multiple regulatory hurdles across many Indian states and facing competition from players such as Uber, Rapido and BluSmart.

Earlier this year, Ola fired around 200 employees in a restructuring exercise across Ola Cabs, Ola Electric and Ola Financial Services.

The IPO-bound startup has been focussing on cutting costs since last year. The startup, which is chasing profitability, has shut down cash-guzzling verticals such as infotainment service Ola Play, used-cars platform Ola Cars, and quick-commerce vertical Ola Dash and has fired thousands of employees in the process.

Many Indian startups have recently faced valuation markdowns amid an uncertain funding environment and mounting losses of top Indian startups.

Earlier this week, US-based VC firm Invesco slashed Swiggy’s valuation for the second time in the last four months to $5.5 Bn. The foodtech giant stood at a nifty valuation of $10.7 after it raised $700 Mn from Invesco in early 2022.

Last month, Inc42 reported that Blackrock, the world’s biggest asset management company, slashed BYJU’S valuation by 50% to $11.5 Bn. Similarly, in September last year, Softbank marked down OYO’s valuation to $2.7Bn from $3.4 Bn.

The development was first reported by VCCircle.