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Ankush Aggarwal returns to Ola Cabs; declining H-1B visas for IT staff
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Happy Tuesday! Ola Cabs founder Bhavish Aggarwal’s brother Ankush is back at the ride-hailing business. More on this in today’s ETtech Morning Dispatch.
Also in the letter:
■ Zomato, Blinkit Q4 numbers
■ Digit founder on IPO
■ Deal pricing hits IT cos’ margins
Ola Cabs founder Bhavish Aggarwal, Ankush Aggarwal
Amid top-level changes at Ola Cabs, founder Bhavish Aggarwal’s brother Ankush has returned to the ride-hailing business after a stint with electric scooter maker Ola Electric.
The A team: Ankush has also been made chief executive of Ola Financial Services and will be part of a team of senior executives tasked with achieving profitability ahead of an initial public offering (IPO). Internally referred to as the ‘CXO team’, this includes executives like chief financial officer Kartik Gupta and chief business officer Sidharth Shakdher. Both have been in Ola Cabs for a little over a year. Earlier, Ankush was chief business officer at Ola Electric.
Why’s it significant: Ankush’s return to Ola Cabs comes in the wake of former chief executive Hemant Bakshi’s exit from the firm on April 29. Bakshi was an FMCG veteran who had joined in September last year, but his appointment was made public only in January this year. With Bakshi out, Bhavish himself is expected to look over the day-to-day business at Ola Cabs, and is said to be focused on hitting profitability. In FY23, Ola Cabs reported losses of Rs 1,082 crore.
Competition heats up: These shifts come as upstarts Rapido and Namma Yatri snap at the heels of established players like Ola and Uber India. Both Rapido and Namma Yatri have entered the cabs business - the core business of the incumbents - and are using a daily subscription model to entice drivers to join their own platforms. In contrast, Ola and Uber charge a commission of about 25-30% for each ride from drivers in most markets. This has forced Ola and Uber to introduce a subscription model for their auto rickshaws in several markets,
Over the last eight years, there has been a 56% decline in the usage of the H-1B visa programme by India's top seven IT services companies, according to data accessed by ET.
Driving the news: Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), which recorded the highest approvals in FY15, dropped 75% in eight years. This number fell 21% for Infosys, 69% for Wipro and 46% for HCL America, the US unit of HCLTech.
Tell me more: Indian IT companies’ reliance on H-1B visas has fallen over the years as they have ramped up local hiring in the US. High denial rates during the Trump administration along with tightening of the immigration regime have also decreased the usage of the visa programme, experts told us.
Tightening rules: The US government has also of late been taking steps to tighten the work visa regime. The US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) earlier this year increased the H-1B registration fee to $215 from $10, and the application fee to $780 from $460. It also added a $600 ‘asylum fee’ while filing H-1B and other petitions, making the process costlier.
Zomato CEO Deepinder Goyal
Online food delivery firm Zomato on Monday reported a consolidated net profit of Rs 175 crore in the March quarter against a consolidated net loss of Rs 188 crore a year ago.
By the numbers:
Blinkit report card: Zomato’s quick commerce arm Blinkit inched closer to profitability, reporting positive adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (Ebitda) for March.
Key takeaways:
Kamesh Goyal, founder, Digit Insurance
Insurance startup Digit is set to go public, with its IPO opening on May 15. Speaking to ET, founder Kamesh Goyal said at a time when startups are struggling to show profits, his company is profitable and growing very fast. This should convince investors to put their money in the first new-generation ‘insurtech’ IPO in the country.
On valuation and pricing: Within seven years, Digit is processing gross written premium of Rs 6,679 crore, and is profitable with after-tax profits of Rs 129 crore in the first nine months of FY24. The general insurance market, which is under-penetrated, is set to grow further, offering tremendous opportunities for Digit.
On the timing of the IPO: Goyal said the management had decided they would go public once the regulatory approvals were in, and not try to time the market. While they had filed its prospectus back in August 2022, the document had to be refiled as it was returned by the markets regulator in January 2023.
Also read | Digit IPO: tempering tech valuations
IT sweats to eke out margins on pricing squeeze, staff costs: Competitive deal pricing, rising staff budgets, and mounting pressure to expand revenues amid a global budget crunch have combined to hurt FY24 operating margins at Indian outsourcing companies, with only market leader Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) bucking the trend.
Wipro to settle lawsuits against former executives Jatin Dalal, Haque: Srinivas Pallia, the new chief executive officer of Wipro, has decided to settle the legal suits against its former senior executives including erstwhile chief financial officer Jatin Dalal for breach of employment contracts, a person close to the development confirmed.
■ How GPS warfare is playing havoc with civilian life (FT)
■ Meet the alliance helping Google and Meta fight election-related misinformation in India (Rest of World)
Also in the letter:
■ Zomato, Blinkit Q4 numbers
■ Digit founder on IPO
■ Deal pricing hits IT cos’ margins
Ola Cabs brings back Ankush Aggarwal to its ride-hailing biz
Amid top-level changes at Ola Cabs, founder Bhavish Aggarwal’s brother Ankush has returned to the ride-hailing business after a stint with electric scooter maker Ola Electric.
The A team: Ankush has also been made chief executive of Ola Financial Services and will be part of a team of senior executives tasked with achieving profitability ahead of an initial public offering (IPO). Internally referred to as the ‘CXO team’, this includes executives like chief financial officer Kartik Gupta and chief business officer Sidharth Shakdher. Both have been in Ola Cabs for a little over a year. Earlier, Ankush was chief business officer at Ola Electric.
Why’s it significant: Ankush’s return to Ola Cabs comes in the wake of former chief executive Hemant Bakshi’s exit from the firm on April 29. Bakshi was an FMCG veteran who had joined in September last year, but his appointment was made public only in January this year. With Bakshi out, Bhavish himself is expected to look over the day-to-day business at Ola Cabs, and is said to be focused on hitting profitability. In FY23, Ola Cabs reported losses of Rs 1,082 crore.
Competition heats up: These shifts come as upstarts Rapido and Namma Yatri snap at the heels of established players like Ola and Uber India. Both Rapido and Namma Yatri have entered the cabs business - the core business of the incumbents - and are using a daily subscription model to entice drivers to join their own platforms. In contrast, Ola and Uber charge a commission of about 25-30% for each ride from drivers in most markets. This has forced Ola and Uber to introduce a subscription model for their auto rickshaws in several markets,
Indian IT’s reliance on H-1B dropped 56% over past eight years
Over the last eight years, there has been a 56% decline in the usage of the H-1B visa programme by India's top seven IT services companies, according to data accessed by ET.
Driving the news: Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), which recorded the highest approvals in FY15, dropped 75% in eight years. This number fell 21% for Infosys, 69% for Wipro and 46% for HCL America, the US unit of HCLTech.
Tell me more: Indian IT companies’ reliance on H-1B visas has fallen over the years as they have ramped up local hiring in the US. High denial rates during the Trump administration along with tightening of the immigration regime have also decreased the usage of the visa programme, experts told us.
Tightening rules: The US government has also of late been taking steps to tighten the work visa regime. The US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) earlier this year increased the H-1B registration fee to $215 from $10, and the application fee to $780 from $460. It also added a $600 ‘asylum fee’ while filing H-1B and other petitions, making the process costlier.
Zomato posts Q4 consolidated net profit at Rs 175 crore
Online food delivery firm Zomato on Monday reported a consolidated net profit of Rs 175 crore in the March quarter against a consolidated net loss of Rs 188 crore a year ago.
By the numbers:
- Consolidated revenue from operations stood at Rs 3,562 crore, up from Rs 2,056 crore in the year-ago period
- Total expenses also rose to Rs 3,636 crore, from Rs 2,431 crore a year earlier.
- The earnings were announced during market hours, and the stock fell nearly 4% to Rs 193.70 on the BSE.
Blinkit report card: Zomato’s quick commerce arm Blinkit inched closer to profitability, reporting positive adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (Ebitda) for March.
Key takeaways:
- For the January-March quarter, Blinkit posted negative adjusted Ebitda of Rs 37 crore, down from Rs 203 crore in the same period last year
- Gross order value for the quarter was Rs 4,027 crore, up 97% on year
- Sequentially, however, Blinkit’s average order value softened to Rs 617 from Rs 635 in the December quarter.
Strong financials, steady growth will help Digit’s public listing sail through: Kamesh Goyal
Insurance startup Digit is set to go public, with its IPO opening on May 15. Speaking to ET, founder Kamesh Goyal said at a time when startups are struggling to show profits, his company is profitable and growing very fast. This should convince investors to put their money in the first new-generation ‘insurtech’ IPO in the country.
On valuation and pricing: Within seven years, Digit is processing gross written premium of Rs 6,679 crore, and is profitable with after-tax profits of Rs 129 crore in the first nine months of FY24. The general insurance market, which is under-penetrated, is set to grow further, offering tremendous opportunities for Digit.
On the timing of the IPO: Goyal said the management had decided they would go public once the regulatory approvals were in, and not try to time the market. While they had filed its prospectus back in August 2022, the document had to be refiled as it was returned by the markets regulator in January 2023.
Also read | Digit IPO: tempering tech valuations
Other Top Stories By Our Reporters
IT sweats to eke out margins on pricing squeeze, staff costs: Competitive deal pricing, rising staff budgets, and mounting pressure to expand revenues amid a global budget crunch have combined to hurt FY24 operating margins at Indian outsourcing companies, with only market leader Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) bucking the trend.
Wipro to settle lawsuits against former executives Jatin Dalal, Haque: Srinivas Pallia, the new chief executive officer of Wipro, has decided to settle the legal suits against its former senior executives including erstwhile chief financial officer Jatin Dalal for breach of employment contracts, a person close to the development confirmed.
Global Picks We Are Reading
■ The $2.3 billion tornado cash case is a pivotal moment for crypto privacy (Wired)■ How GPS warfare is playing havoc with civilian life (FT)
■ Meet the alliance helping Google and Meta fight election-related misinformation in India (Rest of World)
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