Ola Electric’s Feb Math Goes Wrong, Tech Stocks Bleed & More

Ola Electric’s February Math Goes Wrong

Ola Electric may be counting chickens before the hatching. In yet another brush that may go wrong with the Indian regulators, the Bhavish Aggarwal-led EV maker is allegedly counting bookings of the vehicles that haven’t even hit the roads in its sales figures. 

What’s The News? Ola Electric allegedly included “unlaunched” Gen3 escooters and Roadster X motorcycles (likely in the production stage) in its February 2025 sales to boost reported market share. These vehicles accounted for nearly half of Ola’s claimed 25,207 “confirmed orders” in February. 

Calling The Sales Bluff: The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways has asked Ola to revise its data and warned of “adverse action”. The Ministry of Heavy Industries, too, is currently probing discrepancies between Ola Electric’s sales figures and actual vehicle registrations. Notably, only 8,600 vehicles were registered on the Vahan portal in February, far less than the claimed sales.

Already In The Line Of Fire: The EV maker is already under scrutiny for running stores without valid trade certificates. It has also shut down all of its experience centres in Punjab to allegedly avoid inspection. Besides, the consumer protection body is also investigating complaints related to shoddy services.

Steep Fall On The Bourses: The Ola Electric stock fell more than 13% yesterday to a record low of INR 45.55 to finally close at INR 50.83. Since its flat IPO listing in August 2024, Ola’s stock is down nearly 45%. Its market cap currently stands at INR 21,613 Cr.

With regulators expected to further tighten their noose to keep the listed Ola Electric on track, it would be anybody’s guess how the EV giant’s stock will tide through the current unforgiving markets. For now, let’s take a look at Ola Electric’s sales math gone wrong… 

From The Editor’s Desk

New-Age Tech Stocks Cry Havoc: Ten of the 32 new-age tech stocks under Inc42’s coverage touched fresh lows after Indian stock markets spiralled amid a looming global trade war. Interestingly, Delhivery zoomed 5% on the news of its acquisition of Ecom Express.

boAt’s Another Stab At IPO: The parent of wearables and audio brand, Imagine Marketing, has filed its draft papers for its IPO via the confidential filing route. This is the company’s second attempt at going public.

Juspay Secures $60 Mn: The fintech startup has raised $60 Mn in a Series D funding round led by Kedaara Capital and existing investors SoftBank and Accel. This follows Paytm discontinuing all integrations with Juspay last month.

Bare Anatomy Bags INR 136 Cr: The parent company of the beauty and personal care brand, Innovist, has raised INR 136 Cr in its Series B round led by ICICI Venture. Founded in 2018, Innovist is a ‘house of brands’ startup with a focus on haircare and skincare categories.

Easebuzz Nets INR 257 Cr: The B2B fintech startup has secured INR 257 Cr in its Series A funding round led by Bessemer Venture Partners. Founded in 2014, Easebuzz helps businesses digitise their payments collection processes. 

Nykaa’s Q4 Projections: The parent entity of the fashion and beauty giant has said it witnessed a continued growth momentum in the fourth quarter of FY25, with consolidated net revenue growth expected to be in the low to mid-20% YoY range.

Turtlemint Eyes $250 Mn IPO: The insurtech startup is in talks with bankers to undertake a $200-250 Mn public listing later this year. Turtlemint plans to file its DRHP with SEBI by October. The startup helps financial advisors offer insurance to their customers.

Swiggy Gets Tax Notice: Maharashtra authorities have directed the foodtech giant to pay INR 7.59 Cr in back taxes for alleged violation of provisions pertaining to the deduction of professional tax from employees’ salaries. Swiggy plans to challenge the order. 

Inc42 Startup Spotlight

How Phot.AI Is Helping Brands Create, Automate & Scale Visuals 

India is anticipated to have over 500 Mn online shoppers by 2030. While there is no dearth of brands looking to capitalise on this booming demand, ecommerce brands need constant updates for product listings and marketing to maintain visual consistency across platforms, which can become a complex and resource-intensive exercise. 

Phot.AI To The Rescue: It helps ecommerce brands create eye-catching product images, ad designs, and marketplace listings without the hassle of manual design. Using AI, brands can instantly generate visuals for platforms like Amazon, Shopify, and Meta Ads. This helps brands speed up content production and accelerate A/B testing and conversion rates while reducing customer acquisition costs.

The Eye-Catching Tech Stack: The startup claims to offer 25+ AI-powered photo editing tools and an integrated design studio to streamline content creation. Since its inception, Phot.AI has witnessed 3 Mn signups not just in India but globally. 

What’s On The Horizon? The startup plans to expand its team, invest in R&D and launch its AI-powered copilot. Buoyed by $2.7 Mn seed funding, can this Info Edge-backed startup help companies charge up brand recall?