Ola is shedding flab and getting a makeover as it rides to a big-bang IPO in 2 years

• Ola is restructuring its organization as it heads for an IPO within 24 months, sources told Business Insider.
  
• Its standalone losses in FY19 stood at ₹1,160.27 crore from ₹2,676.70 crore in the last financial year.
  
• The ride-hailing company is also putting together governance committees, ethics committee as they head towards an IPO.
  
  

Ola’s founder Bhavish Agarwal knows that investors on Dalal Street like leaner and meaner organisations. As the $5.7 billion company prepares to raise money from the capital markets, it is laying off people, optimising teams , and adding top executives to put out an attractive offer in two years.

The restructuring would mean 5-8% of its 4,500 employees on rolls will either lose jobs or be reassigned to other teams. Less than 250 employees will be let go, a source told Business Insider.

Not just that, it is also cutting down on losses as Indian investors prefer to invest in companies that are not in the red. That is work-in-progress for this 9 year old startup. In the last financial year ending March 2019, its standalone losses were at ₹1,160 crore-- which is half of the ₹2,676.7 crore year before.

“With a view to become more nimble and have a sharper focus on growth and profitability, we are redesigning the organisation to build a structure that strengthens and leverages our local and global scale and enables faster decision making across all of Ola's group companies,” said an Ola spokesperson.

The Board makeover

The startup is also reshaping itself to look more like a listed company. It is putting together a governance committee and an ethics committee a source told Business Insider. It is also bringing experienced people into the fold by hiring for top management level across its subsidiary companies – Ola Electric and Ola Financial services.


Ola and its subsidiaries like Ola Electric and Ola Money already have former top executives on board. Some of them are B V R Subbu, the former president of Hyundai India; former Vodafone CEO Arun Sarin; and Hemant Kaul, the former MD & CEO of Bajaj Allianz General Insurance

Even as it grooming itself, it is also thinking and working like a startup. Ola which already has operations in the UK, hurried through to expand in London as soon as its rival Uber’s licence was cancelled in the city.