Ola Electric's losses touched Rs. 200 crore in FY21
In the financial year ended March 2021, Ola Electric's losses touched nearly Rs. 200 crore. It was around this time that the company switched from battery-as-a-service company to an electric scooter manufacturer. During FY21, the automaker did not sell any products and clocked operational revenue of only Rs. 86 lakh from battery swapping and subscriptions. The company is currently valued at $5 billion.
Why does this story matter?
Ola Electric is only behind Hero Electric in sales of two-wheeler EVs in India. However, the numbers from FY21, albeit being pre-operative, are not very comforting. The revenue to balance this will take some time. Add to that issues like electric scooters catching fire, more players in the market, and policy changes - the company faces an uphill challenge to deliver its ambitious projections.
Employee benefits was the company's bigget expenditure
From an operating revenue of Rs. 1.8 crore in FY20, Ola Electric recorded a meager Rs. 86 lakh revenue in FY21. Its overall revenue stood at Rs. 106 crore, which included Rs. 97 crore as interest from bank deposits. The company's biggest expense was employee benefits, which made nearly 70% of total expenses. Notably, the battery subscription service got shut in 2020.
The company raised $200mn in January 2022 at $5bn valuation
Ola Electric raised $250 million from SoftBank in July 2019 to become a unicorn. In September 2021, it raised $200 million from Alpha Wave Ventures. The company raised another $200 million in January 2022 from Tekne Private Ventures, Alpine Opportunity fund, Edelweiss, and others.
Ola Electric made its first delivery in December 2021
Ola Electric began by setting up battery swapping station in Gurugram. In May 2020, it acquired Dutch electric scooter company Etergo. Etergo's 'App scooter' later became Ola S1 Pro after undergoing many changes. The company started building its scooter factory in February 2021 and in July, it started taking bookings. The automaker made its first delivery of electric scooters in December 2021.
