Bhavish has delivered on his promise, sparking an EV revolution—this is what fuels the excitement around Ola Electric's IPO: SoftBank’s Sumer Juneja

Sumer Juneja, head of India and EMEA at SoftBank Investment Advisers, and a key stakeholder in Ola Electric, commended Bhavish Aggarwal, the founder of Ola Electric, for delivering on his ambitious vision. Juneja emphasized that Aggarwal's role in driving the electric vehicle (EV) revolution is a major factor fueling the excitement surrounding the upcoming IPO.

“What Bhavish has done from 2019, when our first cheque went in, to what the firm is now is phenomenal. The promise he has delivered, the EV revolution, is what is keeping people excited,” Juneja said at the Moneycontrol Startup Conclave in Bengaluru on August 9.

Juneja was part of a panel discussion on "Startup Street to Dalal Street" along with Swiggy’s co-founder and group chief executive officer Sriharsha Majety and Delhivery’s chief Sahil Barua.

The session was moderated by Moneycontrol deputy executive editor Chandra R Srikanth.

While the IPO is a significant milestone, Juneja emphasized that it represents just the beginning.

“The road ahead is long as Ola Electric continues to work towards Bhavish's ambitious vision for the company,” he added.

Shares of newly listed Ola Electric Mobility surged 20 percent to hit an upper circuit of Rs 109.44 apiece on August 12, extending gains for a second consecutive session. This follows another 20 percent rally that triggered the upper circuit on its market debut on August 9.

The IPO was a combination of a fresh issue of Rs 5,500 crore by the company, and an offer-for-sale of 8.49 crore shares worth Rs 645.6 crore by the existing shareholders including founder Bhavish Aggarwal.

It was an IPO bounty year for SoftBank as it is sitting on around 106 percent gains on cumulative investment of Rs 7,085 crore in Ola Electric, FirstCry and Snapdeal-backed Unicommerce.

According to the regulatory filings, SoftBank has invested Rs 4,161 crore in Ola Electric, Rs 2,824 crore in FirstCry and Rs 100 crore in Unicommerce.

After the IPOs, the mega investor will still be left with large holdings in the three companies — 78.61 crore shares in Ola Electric worth about Rs 5,974 crore, about 10.4 crore in FirstCry worth about Rs 4,863 crore and 1.61 crore shares in Unicommerce worth Rs 174 crore.