Bhavish Aggarwal, Founder of Ola Cabs, Ventures into Artificial Intelligence Space
Feature: Bhavish Aggarwal, the visionary entrepreneur behind Ola Cabs and Ola Electric, is diversifying his business interests with a foray into the artificial intelligence (AI) domain. Aggarwal has recently established a new company named Krutrim SI Designs Private Ltd, signaling his entry into the AI space, according to sources familiar with the matter.
Documents sourced from the Ministry of Corporate Affairs by business-intelligence site Tofler reveal that Aggarwal registered Krutrim SI Designs Private Ltd in April this year. Alongside Aggarwal, Tenneti Venugopala Krishnamurthy, a longstanding advisor to Aggarwal, is listed as a director of the new company.
Sources indicate that Aggarwal is in the process of securing funding for Krutrim SI Designs Private Ltd from investors. Krishnamurthy, commonly referred to as TVG, has been a trusted advisor to Aggarwal and serves on the board of all his companies.
Aggarwal’s existing ventures include ANI Technologies, the parent company of Ola Cabs; Ola Electric Mobility, which focuses on electric vehicles; Ola Electric Technologies, dedicated to research and development; and Ola Financial Services, fully owned by ANI Technologies.
Krishnamurthy’s directorship extends to these companies as well as Ola Electric Charging Pvt Ltd, a subsidiary of Ola Electric Mobility.
Notably, Krutrim SI Designs Private Ltd deviates from Aggarwal’s usual nomenclature, as it does not incorporate the ‘Ola’ brand name. This divergence suggests a deliberate departure from Aggarwal’s previous ventures.
It is speculated that Matrix Partners, a venture capital firm with a history of investing in Ola group companies during their inception, may be among the investors committed to Aggarwal’s new AI venture. However, neither Ola nor Matrix Partners responded to requests for confirmation regarding this development.
Aggarwal’s interest in AI has been evident in his recent activities, with regular tweets advocating for India to lead in AI adoption. His visit to Taiwan, a prominent hub for AI computing chips, further underscores his commitment to exploring AI technologies.
Aggarwal’s venture into AI comes amidst ongoing efforts to raise funds for Ola Electric and steer the company towards a potential public listing next year. Concurrently, Aggarwal has diversified Ola’s offerings by venturing into quick commerce with Ola Dash and launching Ola Cars, a used-car service.
While Ola Dash and Ola Cars were initially introduced as verticals of Ola Cabs, they were subsequently integrated into the broader Ola ecosystem.
