Ola Electric's Bhavish Aggarwal Pledges Stake to Fund AI Startup Krutrim

Bhavish Aggarwal Pledges Ola Electric Stake To Raise Debt For Krutrim

In January this year, Krutrim became India's first AI unicorn after raising $50 Mn in a round which saw participation from investors like Z47 Ola Electric's founder and CEO Bhavish Aggarwal has pledged shares of the electric two-wheeler manufacturer to raise debt for his third unicorn, Krutrim. In an exchange filing, the EV major said that Aggarwal has signed a non-disposal undertaking, executed between him, Axis Trustee Services, and Krutrim Data Centre, on November 23 in relation to some debentures issued by Krutrim. Aggarwal, who holds 132.39 Cr shares, or 30.02% stake, of Ola Electric, has pledged 4.83 equity shares, or 1.10% of equity stake, of the two-wheeler EV major. The amount of shares pledged translates to 3.65% of the total shares held by the promoter. As per Ola Electric's closing price of INR 69.14 on Friday (November 22), a day before the agreement was signed, the pledged shares were worth INR 334.32 Cr ($39.47 Mn). It is pertinent to note that the stake held by the promoter and promoter group of Ola Electric is locked-in till February, as per SEBI's regulations. The regulations specify that the entire pre-issue capital of the shareholders is locked-in for a period of six months from the date of allotment in case of listing pursuant to public issue or date of listing in case of listing without public issue. "Further, upon the expiry of the lock-in over the promoter shares, the promoter will create a pledge over a portion of the promoter shares and make relevant disclosures...," Ola Electric said in the filing. In January this year, Krutrim became India's first AI unicorn after raising $50 Mn in a round which saw participation from investors like Z47 (then Matrix Partners India). Inc42 has reached out to Krutrim seeking further details about the debt issue. The story will be updated on receiving a response. For Ola Electric, the development comes at a time when its shares have seen a revival over the last week or so on the back of new product launches. The stock has gained about 35% since the date of signing the non-disposal undertaking. On November 26, Ola Electric launched its new Gig and S1 Z range of scooters, focussed on the gig economy and price-conscious consumers. It also launched a portable battery pack, named Ola PowerPod. The battery pack is set for roll out in April 2025. Earlier today, the EV company announced plans to expand its company-owned store network to 4,000 by December 20. "With over 3,200 new stores set to open, Ola Electric will operate India's largest EV distribution network, covering all the country's pin codes," the company said in a press release. Shares of Ole Electric ended today's trading session 6.44% higher than previous close at INR 93.05.

Bhavish Aggarwal pledges 1.1% stake in Ola Electric to fund Krutrim AI

Bhavish Aggarwal, founder of Ola Electric, has pledged 1.1% of his stake in the electric two-wheeler manufacturing company to fund his artificial intelligence (AI) startup, Krutrim AI. He has signed a non-disposal undertaking executed between Axis Trustee Services and Krutrim Data Centre to provide comfort in relation to certain debentures being issued by Krutrim, Ola Electric said in a public disclosure. Aggarwal, who holds a 30.02% stake (132.3 crore shares) in Ola Electric, has pledged 4.8 crore equity shares. Based on Ola Electric's closing price of Rs 93.26 on Monday, the pledged shares were valued at approximately Rs 451 crore. As per Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) regulations, the promoter shares are currently locked in. Ola Electric noted in its disclosure, "Further upon the expiry of the lock-in over the promoter shares, the promoter will create a pledge over a portion of the promoter shares and make relevant disclosures in accordance with applicable laws," the disclosure added. Aggarwal announced in August that Krutrim AI is working on AI chips and its first chip, Bodhi 1, is set for launch in 2026, followed by Bodhi 2 two years later. The startup is also developing two other chips, Sarv 1 and Ojas. It has partnered with global semiconductor company Arm and Untether AI for the development of CPUs, AI chips, platforms, and systems. To support its AI and cloud initiatives, the company is also planning to scale its data centre capacity to 1 GW by 2028, it said. This development comes as Ola Electric faces challenges in the electric two-wheeler market. Its market share declined by 6 percentage points sequentially in November to 24.8%, based on vehicle registration data from the government's Vahan portal. New vehicle registrations also fell 30% to 28,688 in November, compared to 41,161 in October, when the company held a 30.5% market share. Service issues and rising customer complaints have added to the company's woes, impacting its stock price and market capitalisation. The Central Consumer Protection Authority recently issued a notice to Ola Electric over service-related issues. In its response on October 21, the company claimed to have resolved 99.1% of existing complaints. Despite these challenges, global brokerage firm Citi Research recently initiated coverage of Ola Electric with a "Buy" rating and a target price of Rs 90. It acknowledged challenges in Ola Electric's service reputation, stating: "We admit service perception has been negative of late, but expect it to subside over the medium term as back-end supply chain catches up with volume growth." Ola Electric has been actively expanding its product range. It recently launched two new electric scooter models -- the S1 Z and Gig -- targeted at gig economy workers and cost-conscious consumers in India.