SoftBank-Backed Ola in Crisis Mode A Year After Blockbuster IPO in India

Three years ago, when Ola Electric Mobility Ltd.’s scooters were in high demand as an affordable new offering for India’s vast two-wheeler market, co-founder and billionaire Bhavish Aggarwal was spending weeks away in the UK.

He set up a sleek R&D outpost in Coventry — the UK’s historic automotive heartland — and staffed it with expensive industry stars who had previously sketched Jaguars and Aston Martins. The goal: an electric car of Ola’s own, another step in Aggarwal’s dream of becoming the Asian nation’s Elon Musk.