Ola's ride to sky-high valuations takes another hit, as Vanguard marks down investments
This comes at a time when Indian startups are facing deep cuts across the board.
In the high-stakes world of Indian tech, valuations once soared to the heavens, as if gravity didn’t apply. But as the economic tide shifts, a stark reality is setting in: those sky-high valuations are plummeting back to Earth, reshaping the startup landscape.
Today, once-unstoppable companies like BYJU’S, Meesho and Oyo are facing the downside of the boom.
Emmanuel Oyedeji
Ride hailing startup, Ola, once among the most valuable names in India’s startup ecosystem, is the latest to join this challenging trend as it grapples with a series of sharp markdowns.
This comes as U.S. asset manager Vanguard recently marked down its own stake in ANI Technologies, Ola’s parent company. The fund, which initially invested $51 million in Ola, now values its stake at just $14.3 million—a third of what it paid to join India’s ride-hailing revolution.
This adjusted valuation underscores a sobering $2 billion valuation for the startup, a staggering drop from its $7.3 billion peak in 2021.
But Ola’s valuation woes didn’t come as a single blow. Vanguard first backed Ola in 2015, valuing it at nearly $5 billion. However, by 2017, the company’s worth had slipped 40% to around $3 billion, forcing Ola to seek funding through a down round led by SoftBank. Then came the 2021 bull market, which briefly lifted Ola’s valuation to $7.3 billion. This high didn’t last. Since May 2023, Ola’s worth has nosedived, dropping to $4.8 billion, then $2.65 billion by August 2023, and finally, a stark $1.9 billion by early 2024—a 74% plunge from its peak.
Ola’s dramatic fall is only one piece of the bigger picture. Across the board, Indian startups are facing deep cuts that are reshaping the ecosystem. BYJU’S, once a darling of the edtech world, has seen its valuation tank by an astonishing 99%, and Pharmeasy, a health-tech leader, has endured a 90% slash. Even the once-mighty Oyo, valued at $10 billion at its peak, has now slipped to $2.4 billion. Meesho, Udaan, and ShareChat haven’t escaped unscathed.
Amid this recalibration, Ola competes fiercely with Uber, Swiggy-backed Rapido, and Google-supported Moving Tech, all of which are vying for a slice of India’s growing ride-hailing market.
