Once upon a time, a yellow cab app dreamed of being worth five billion dollars. That dream, it turns out, had a shelf life.
Vanguard, the American asset management behemoth, has marked down its valuation of Ola Consumer, the ride-hailing entity founded by Bhavish Aggarwal, to approximately $70.3 millionVanguard marks down Ola Consumer’s valuation to $70 Mn.
The figure, derived from Vanguard’s latest disclosure to the US Securities and Exchange Commission, represents a fall of nearly 99% from the $5 billion valuation at which the fund first invested in the company back in 2015. Against the company’s all-time peak of $7.3 billion, reached during the frothy funding cycle of 2021, the markdown is even more staggering.
To put it simply: Vanguard paid in roughly $51.7 million over a decade ago, and now carries the value of that stake at around $728,000.
This is not the first time Vanguard has revised its view of Ola downward. In early 2024, it had valued the company at $1.88 billion. By May 2025, that number had slipped to $1.25 billion. The latest filing is a different order of magnitude altogether, and represents a hard landing from a valuation that once invited comparisons with global mobility giants.
It must be noted, as Vanguard’s own disclosure implies, that mark-to-market valuations on private holdings are methodological constructs. They factor in liquidity discounts, comparable company analyses, and internal assumptions that may not reflect what a strategic acquirer or a public market might actually pay. Ola has not responded to the report, and the company has not confirmed or denied any of the numbers.
What makes the Vanguard markdown harder to dismiss, however, is the broader context surrounding Ola Consumer. The company’s operating revenue declined 42% to Rs 1,171 crore in FY25, down from Rs 2,012 crore in the previous fiscal year. Net losses widened to Rs 662 crore from Rs 329 crore. These are not figures that inspire confidence in a turnaround narrative.
Meanwhile, the competitive landscape has intensified sharply. Uber continues to consolidate its position in India’s premium segments, while Rapido, who was once regarded primarily as a two-wheeler taxi service, has evolved into a full-stack mobility player and recently valued itself at $3 billion following a $240 million raise led by Prosus. The contrast is difficult to ignore.
All of this plays out against an unusual backdrop: Ola Consumer is simultaneously preparing for an IPO. The company has reportedly initiated the process even as its revenue contracts and its losses mount. Whether public markets will look past the current financials to price in a recovery story remains an open and consequential question.
Bhavish Aggarwal has never lacked for ambition. From ride-hailing to electric vehicles, from AI to EV batteries, he has consistently pursued scale at a pace that outran execution. The Ola Consumer saga, no matter what happens next, is a case study in the peril of prioritising valuation milestones over building durable business fundamentals.
The number on Vanguard’s books today is $70.3 million. That is not the end of Ola’s story. But it is, without question, a very uncomfortable chapter.
