Bhavish Aggarwal, the Founder and CEO of Ola Cabs and Ola Electric, is venturing into a new business venture. Sources indicate that Aggarwal has floated a new company, possibly delving into the realm of Artificial Intelligence (AI). In April, Aggarwal registered a company called Krutrim SI Designs Private Ltd, with himself and Tenneti Venugopala Krishnamurthy as the only two directors. The company was officially incorporated on April 5, as per documents sourced from the Ministry of Corporate Affairs via business intelligence site Tofler.
Aggarwal is apparently in the midst of seeking investor backing for the new company. Tenneti Venugopala Krishnamurthy, or TVG, has been Aggarwal’s long-term advisor and sits on the boards of all of his enterprises. According to the documents, Aggarwal’s portfolio includes ANI Technologies, the parent company of Ola Cabs; Ola Electric Mobility, which oversees the electric-vehicle business; Ola Electric Technologies, which focuses on research and development; and Ola Financial Services, which was fully acquired by ANI Technologies.
In addition, Krishnamurthy serves as a director on the boards of all of these firms, as well as Ola Electric Charging Pvt. Ltd, a subsidiary of Ola Electric Mobility.
Interestingly, unlike Aggarwal’s previous enterprises, the new company, Krutrim, does not have the word ‘Ola’ in its name. According to sources, Aggarwal may have already obtained investment commitments from Matrix Partners, a venture capital firm that was an early investor in Ola Cabs. Matrix Partners has worked closely with Aggarwal, investing in all Ola group firms during their initial stages. They previously invested in Ola Electric, Ola Financial Services, and Avail Finance, founded by Aggarwal’s brother, Ankush Aggarwal, and later bought by Ola Cabs. Despite ET Prime’s email attempts, neither Ola nor Matrix Partners responded to confirm this situation.
Aggarwal, who is currently in the process of fundraising for Ola Electric and planning its public listing next year, appears to be simultaneously working on establishing an AI venture.
He entered the rapid commerce area with the introduction of Ola Dash in 2022, and prior to that, he created Ola Cars, a used-car business. During that time, four used-car firms achieved unicorn status due to substantial demand from venture capital investors. However, Ola Cars and Ola Dash, which were established as verticals of Ola Cabs, were quickly phased out.
Aggarwal has recently shown a significant interest in AI, tweeting about it frequently and emphasising that India should lead in the adoption of AI technologies. Aggarwal recently visited Taiwan, a major location for AI computer system chips, according to sources.