Cab Riding Major Ola is set to walk along the footprints of India’s most successful internet startup Flipkart as it is about to adopt a group holding company structure that would boost company’s valuation and improve its business management.
According to sources, Ola will set up a holding company consisting of different units that will include its core cab business, food delivery app Foodpanda and the inceptive business of electric vehicles along with the international unit. Each of the units will have their respective heads looking after business operations.
The recent exit of company’s COO Vishal Kaul has now put prominent names such as senior vice-presidents Saikiran Krishnamurthy and Pallav Singh on the tentative list of senior hierarchy under the new structure.
People familiar with the matter said that Ola’s CEO Bhavish Aggarwal wants to create a structure similar to that of Flipkart.
Interestingly, Flipkart valuation had reached a notch high when it planned to go with group structure giving equal focus to each business. Ola’s CEO now wants to embark on a similar path especially now when the company has several businesses under its roof that require skilled and focused management.
One of the sources said on request of anonymity, “It’s becoming difficult for Bhavish to devote attention to all the different businesses, the group structure would prove helpful in increasing management bandwidth.”
To recap, Ola had bought Foodpanda in December in an all-stock deal and said it will invest $200 million towards growing the business. The company has also appointed Pranay Jivrajka as CEO of Foodpanda which may raise funds separately later this year.