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ANI Technologies (Ola Consumer / Ola Cabs)

On-Demand Ride HailingFounded 2010
Reviewed by Swet Parvadiya
Company data updated: October 2026

Founders

Who Founded Ola?

Bhavish Aggarwal, Ankit Bhati · Founded 2010 · HQ today: Bengaluru, Karnataka, India

Who founded Ola?

Ola was founded by Bhavish Aggarwal, Ankit Bhati in 2010 in Mumbai, Maharashtra, India. It is now led by Bhavish Aggarwal.

Founders
Bhavish Aggarwal, Ankit Bhati
Founded
2010
Headquarters
Bengaluru, Karnataka, India
Number of founders
2
Current CEO
Bhavish Aggarwal (since 2010)
Where was Ola founded?
Ola was founded in Mumbai, Maharashtra, India in 2010. wikidata.org
When was Ola founded?
Ola was founded in 2010.
Who started Ola?
Ola was founded by Bhavish Aggarwal and Ankit Bhati.
How old is Ola?
Ola is 16 years old as of 2026.

Founding Story

In 2010 Bhavish Aggarwal, then a Microsoft Research engineer, hired a car for a trip from Bengaluru toward Bandipur. The driver stopped midway and demanded more money; when Aggarwal refused, he was left on the road. The experience convinced him that Indian taxi travel needed accountability, and with fellow IIT Bombay alumnus Ankit Bhati he started Ola in Mumbai, first as an outstation and holiday booking site before shifting to on-demand city cabs.

Bhavish Aggarwal

Background

B.Tech in computer science and engineering from IIT Bombay; worked at Microsoft Research India before starting Ola.

Role at ANI Technologies (Ola Consumer / Ola Cabs)

Bhavish Aggarwal co-founded Ola in 2010 and leads ANI Technologies. He also founded and runs Ola Electric, which listed in August 2024, and the AI company Krutrim. He resumed direct control of the ride-hailing business after Hemant Bakshi's exit in April 2024 and has pushed cost cuts, in-house tech such as Ola Maps, and the zero-commission driver model.

Bhavish Aggarwal was born in 1985 in Ludhiana. Education: Indian Institute of Technology Bombay.

Aggarwal was born on August 28, 1985. He also founded Ola Krutrim, an artificial intelligence company, and was named in Time magazine's 100 Most Influential People of 2018.

Ankit Bhati

Background

IIT Bombay graduate who built Ola's early technology.

Role at ANI Technologies (Ola Consumer / Ola Cabs)

Ankit Bhati co-founded Ola with Bhavish Aggarwal in 2010 and served as its chief technology officer, building the original booking and dispatch systems that let Ola scale across Indian cities. He later stepped back from an executive role. (Exact birth year remains publicly undisclosed).

ANI Technologies (Ola Consumer / Ola Cabs): CEO & Leadership History

Full timeline →

Hemant Bakshi

Chief Executive Officer, Ola Cabs

2024 – 2024

Briefly serving as CEO of Ola Cabs, the former Unilever executive highlighted the severe, deeply entrenched cultural friction between traditional corporate managers and Bhavish Aggarwal's aggressive startup style.

Bhavish Aggarwal

Co-Founder; leads ANI Technologies

2010 – Present

Built Ola from an outstation booking site into a national ride-hailing app, then restructured it after 2024.

Ankit Bhati

Co-Founder and former CTO

2010 – Present

As Co-Founder and CTO, he quietly built the technical foundation of the company while Bhavish aggressively managed the fundraising and public relations, eventually stepping away from day-to-day operations in 2020.

Compare ANI Technologies (Ola Consumer / Ola Cabs) Leadership With Competitors

ANI Technologies (Ola Consumer / Ola Cabs) vs Uber Technologies, Inc. Leadership →Overview

Keep researching Ola

Who Founded Ola? FAQ

Who founded Ola Cabs?

Bhavish Aggarwal and Ankit Bhati founded Ola in December 2010 in Mumbai.

What inspired Ola?

Aggarwal was abandoned mid-trip by a rented-car driver who demanded more money, which showed him the need for a reliable cab service.

Who first funded Ola?

Matrix Partners India backed Ola early, in 2011.

What else does Bhavish Aggarwal run?

He founded Ola Electric, listed in August 2024, and the AI company Krutrim.

Who was Ankit Bhati and what was his contribution as Ola's co-founder and CTO?

Ankit Bhati, Bhavish Aggarwal's batchmate from IIT Bombay, was the technical mastermind who co-founded Ola Cabs and served as Chief Technology Officer for a decade. Bhati architected the high-throughput backend infrastructure, real-time dispatch algorithms, and mobile apps that handled millions of daily rides.

Why did co-founder Ankit Bhati step away from active management at Ola?

In 2020, Ankit Bhati transitioned out of day-to-day corporate operations at ANI Technologies following strategic governance disagreements and personal interest in pursuing new tech ventures (founding SaaS startup Amnic), leaving Bhavish Aggarwal as the sole executive leader.

How did the founders raise their first institutional funding in 2011?

After bootstrap funding from family, Bhavish and Ankit won angel backing from prominent Indian tech luminaries, including Kunal Bahl, Rohit Bansal (Snapdeal), and Rehan Yar Khan, before securing a $5 million Series A round from Tiger Global in 2012.

What early operational challenges did the founders face in Mumbai and Bengaluru?

In 2011, smartphone penetration was less than 5% in India, and cab drivers lacked GPS devices. The founders personally distributed cheap GPS-enabled feature phones to taxi drivers, trained them to accept electronic bookings, and manually monitored cab locations 24/7.

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Content is for informational purposes only. Not financial advice. Data sourced from SEC filings, annual reports, and public records. See our full disclaimer and methodology.