ET ENTREPRENEUR OF THE YEAR AWARD
BHAVISH
AGGARWAL
Fighting a Giant on the Road Brings the Best Out of Him
...and the award goes to BHAVISH AGGARWAL Co-founder & CEO,
Ola
Nine years ago, Bhavish Aggarwal graduated from the Indian
Institute of Technology with a degree in com puter science. Today, he's
battling Uber, one of the world's best-funded startups. But he's got some
strong supporters Japan's richest man Masayoshi Son and Russia's Yuri
Milner. Recently , he has won the backing of the UC-RNT fund, a joint venture
between Ratan Tata's RNT Associates and the University of California, and is in
the process of raising additional capital from Chinese internet giant Tencent.
His company , Ola, -now valued at around $4 billion -is now one
of India's most valuable startups and market leader in the on-demand
transportation space.
The category was keenly contested. The jury had shortlisted
three candidates. In the first round Aggarwal got five votes as against four
for his closest rival. In the second the jury was unanimous.
“It feels very exciting that the efforts are recognised and is a
boost of encouragement for the future. It is still very early in our journey .
This recognition not just for me but for the entire Ola team,“ said Aggarwal on
winning the Entrepreneur of the Year Award. Aggarwal, who was on the jury ,
recused himself for the discussion and vote on this award. Last year, Ola
restructured the business to step up focus and investment in its core taxi
service after pulling the shutters down on experiments such as food and grocery
delivery .
Since then, it has not just launched new categories to widen its
scope of offerings, but also paid attention to improving customer experience.
The move helped Ola maintain its lead over rival Uber, critical at this point
to keep its valuation and numbers buoyant. Entry into segments such as
autorickshaws and electric vehicles has already started to pay off, and has
become a differentiator against rival Uber.
Hailing from Ludhiana in Punjab, Aggarwal worked with Microsoft
Research for two years, where he filed two patents and published three papers
in international journals. He knew that the hyper-local transport issue had
enormous potential and wanted to make a difference.
His approach to creating a business is this no shortcuts. That,
he says has helped Ola maintain market leadership in a competitive environment
Sep 05 2017 : The Economic Times (Mumbai)
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