Exclusive: IPO-bound Ola's COO and CFO to exit the company

Ride-hailing app Ola's Chief Financial Officer Swayam Saurabh and Chief Operating Officer Gaurav Porwal are leaving the company, in what are crucial exits ahead of its plans for a public listing.

While Saurabh took charge as CFO only in April this year, Porwal was the COO of global mobility at Ola since last year, with interim charges of Ola Foods and Ola Fleets. Sources told Moneycontrol that both these exits happened in the last week, the latest in a series of top executives who have quit in the last two years.

Moneycontrol has also seen a mail sent by Ola founder Bhavish Aggarwal on October 19, 2021, announcing these exits and other changes in the organisation.

"Vinay, who is building our Deliveries business will take on the additional responsibilities for the driver and supply ecosystem of our mobility platform due to the strong synergies between these businesses. Anshul, who leads marketing will take on the additional responsibility to drive revenue as well," Aggarwal wrote.

He confirmed that Porwal, who ran the mobility business in the last year will be leaving Ola to pursue other interests.

"Arun Kumar GR, our Group CFO will continue to run the finance function across the group and all key finance leaders will now report to him. Swayam Saurabh will be moving on to pursue other opportunities in mid-December."

While employee churn is not unusual in fast-growing startups amidst a huge demand for tech talent, it is somewhat more pronounced at Ola, where sources say the average employee tenure has come down to 1-1.5 years, due to its hard-charging and aggressive work culture.

Other exits in the recent past include Ola's founding member Pranay Jivrajka, Ola Electric's co-founders Ankit Jain and Anand Shah. Nitin Gupta, who was the CEO of Ola Financial Services, also resigned last year, while Ola's chief business officer Sanjay Bhan, also left the company in less than a year.

Aggarwal is the founder of two unicorns- the ride-hailing business Ola and Ola Electric, which has ambitious plans to disrupt the electric two-wheeler market. Its much-anticipated electric scooter S1 was launched symbolically on 15th August, India's Independence Day

Read More: Ola Electric scooter launched: Founder Bhavish Aggarwal calls it the best ever made

Ola's core ride-hailing unit is also planning to list on stock exchanges soon, for which it raised $500 million from Warburg Pincus and Temasek,  giving early backers Tiger and Matrix a part exit from their stake in the company. While the company has hired bankers for its IPO, it hasn't disclosed by when it plans to go public.

While Covid-induced lockdowns battered this business in the last year, it has been making a recovery of late as India has opened up significantly in the last few months.

"Over the last 12 months, we have made our ride-hailing business more robust, resilient, and efficient. With a strong recovery post lockdown and shift in consumer preferences away from public transportation, we are well-positioned to capitalize on the various urban mobility needs of our customers," Aggarwal said in a statement in July.

In September, he tweeted stating that the gross merchandise volume (GMV) for Ola crossed pre-Covid levels, adding that the recovery from the second wave of Covid19 has been three times as faster compared with the first wave.