Latest news with #BhavishAggarwal
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Business Standard
23-06-2025
- Automotive
- Business Standard
Ola Electric Mobility shares slip 6%, hits all time low amid large trade
Ola Electric Mobility shares slumped 6.1 per cent in trade on June 23, 2025, hitting an all-time low at ₹43.2 per share on BSE amid large trades. On the BSE, 15.5 million shares were traded, while on the National Stock Exchange (NSE), 36.6 million shares changed hands, at 9:32 AM. Around the same time, Ola Electric share price was trading 4.26 per cent lower at ₹44.09 per share on the BSE. In comparison, the BSE Sensex was down 0.84 per cent at 81,719.53. The company's market capitalisation stood at ₹19,319.43 crore. Its 52-week high was at ₹157.53 per share and 52-week low was at ₹43.2 per share. Why did Ola Electric shares plunge in trade today? The stock was under pressure after 0.8 per cent equity changed hands in multiple blocks, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. The buyers and sellers of the transactions were not known. According to the shareholding pattern on BSE, as of March 2025, mutual funds held a 2.6 per cent stake in Ola Electric and promoters held a 36.78 per cent stake in the company. In Q4, Ola Electric Mobility's loss widened to ₹870 crore as compared to ₹416 crore a year ago. The revenue from operations declined 59.5 per cent to ₹611 crore in Q4FY25, the company had reported the same as ₹1,598 crore in the corresponding quarter last year. Ola Electric reported a 38 per cent year-on-year (Y-o-Y) improvement in gross margins for the financial year 2024–25 (FY25). In FY25, Ola Electric delivered 359,221 units, marking a 9 per cent year on year increase from 329,549 units in FY24, thereby maintaining its leadership position in the electric two-wheeler (E2W) segment and contributing to higher electric vehicle penetration. About Ola Electric Ola Electric Mobility Ltd, established by Bhavish Aggarwal, is an Indian electric vehicle (EV) manufacturer headquartered in Bengaluru. Ola Electric aims to lead the transition to sustainable mobility in India. The company specialises in designing, engineering, and manufacturing electric two-wheelers, including the Ola S1 series, and is actively expanding its product lineup to include electric motorcycles and three-wheelers.
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Business Standard
20-06-2025
- Business
- Business Standard
Krutrim acquires BharatSah'AI'yak to expand AI footprint in public sector
Krutrim, the artificial intelligence start-up founded by Ola's Bhavish Aggarwal, has acquired BharatSah'AI'yak, an AI-powered platform developed by Samagra, in a move aimed at deepening its footprint in India's public sector technology landscape. The acquisition brings under Krutrim's umbrella a platform that has played a central role in accelerating the deployment of AI solutions across a range of government initiatives, spanning education, agriculture and governance. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. With the acquisition, Krutrim plans to integrate its proprietary large language models, cloud infrastructure and agentic AI capabilities—including those behind its recently launched assistant app, Kruti—to expand BharatSah'AI'yak's reach nationwide. 'At Krutrim, we have boarded the country's brightest minds to develop a platform that reflects the diversity, depth and richness of Indian languages and culture,' said a Krutrim spokesperson. 'This integration enhances our ability to build AI that is inclusive, intuitive and deeply rooted in the lived realities of India.' Experts said the move highlights Krutrim's broader ambition to democratise artificial intelligence across India, targeting both public services and citizen-facing platforms. The deal also highlights the increasing role of home-grown AI firms in shaping India's digital governance strategy, as the government looks to harness emerging technologies to improve service delivery and administrative efficiency. BharatSah'AI'yak specialises in creating Bharat-focused, vernacular Retrieval Augmented Generation (RAG)-based AI bots that deliver both text and voice-led experiences. The platform's impact is evident through a series of high-profile deployments. Among them is KumbhSah'AI'yak, billed as India's first AI-powered chatbot for Maha Kumbh 2025. Designed to serve millions of pilgrims, the chatbot offers round-the-clock assistance on religious rituals, site navigation, accommodation options and local attractions. Krutrim provided the hosted open-source large language model services that power the chatbot's functionality. Another notable implementation is the AMA Krushi AI chatbot, launched in Odisha. This voice-enabled assistant delivers agriculture-related guidance and information on government schemes to farmers in local languages, using authenticated data from official sources. The initiative aims to improve accessibility and decision-making for farmers across the region. With Krutrim's advanced AI models, cloud infrastructure and the agentic platform underlying Kruti, these specialised assistants can now scale to serve more users across diverse domains with intuitive, efficient and language-inclusive interactions. Krutrim recently announced the launch of Kruti, the country's first agentic AI assistant designed to go far beyond conventional chatbots. Kruti is poised to lead a paradigm shift in AI, moving from passive responses to proactive, agentic task execution. Kruti can execute tasks like cab booking, food ordering, bill payments, image creation and in-depth research, while also supporting read-aloud responses. Additionally, it offers advanced AI features like in-depth research and image creation free of cost for users. Krutrim reached unicorn status last year after raising $50 million in equity during its inaugural funding round. The round, which valued the company at $1 billion, included participation from investors such as Matrix Partners India. Earlier this year, company founder Bhavish Aggarwal announced an investment of Rs 2,000 crore in Krutrim, with a commitment to invest an additional Rs 10,000 crore by next year. The company also launched the Krutrim AI Lab and released some of its work to the open-source community.
Time of India
18-06-2025
- Business
- Time of India
No commissions! Ola launches new zero percent model in India; entire fare earnings to go to drivers
Ola claims that it is now India's first ride-hailing service to completely remove commission charges. The fare for your next trip on an Ola will go entirely to the driver. Ola has announced nationwide implementation of a zero percent commission structure, enabling drivers across its auto, bike, and cab services to keep their entire fare earnings. The implementation was conducted systematically, beginning with auto services, then bike services, and finally extending to cab services. Ola claims that it is now India's first ride-hailing service to completely remove commission charges. Drivers now have the flexibility to select their preferred plans whilst retaining their complete earnings, without any reductions or earning limitations. An Ola Consumer spokesperson told ET, "The launch of the zero percent commission model pan-India marks a fundamental shift in the ride-hailing business. Removing commissions empowers driver partners with much more ownership and opportunity." According to a previous report in the financial daily, Ola and Uber have adopted a subscription-based fee structure, previously introduced by Namma Yatri and Swiggy-backed Rapido, for auto rickshaw drivers. This system replaces traditional per-trip commission or booking fees with fixed daily or weekly charges, providing drivers unlimited ride access. A Telangana-based organisation representing gig workers expressed scepticism about the overall effectiveness of the latest initiative. "All aggregator companies charge subscription fees—before the ride, you must recharge. They may be removing commissions, but they already charged subscription fees from the riders," said Shaik Salauddin, founder president of the Telangana Gig and Platform Workers Union. As part of its expansion beyond transport services into automated warehousing, Ola Credit, and Ola Pay, Ola rebranded its ride-hailing division as Ola Consumer in the previous year. The company, under Bhavish Aggarwal's leadership, has seen declining revenues and multiple high-level departures during the past year. Its revenue from operations and other income across ride-hailing, financial services, and logistics decreased to Rs 2,368 crore in FY24 from Rs 3,000 crore in FY23. In December 2024, two veteran executives, Suvonil Chatterjee, chief technology and product officer, and Anshul Khandelwal, chief marketing officer, departed Ola Electric. Both executives had previously worked at Ola Cabs before joining the EV division. The company has also attracted regulatory attention. In January 2025, the Central Consumer Protection Authority (CCPA) sent notices to Ola and other ride-hailing companies regarding price differences between Android and iPhone users. In May, Union consumer affairs minister Pralhad Joshi announced that the CCPA had broadened its investigation of the advance tipping feature to include Ola Cabs and Rapido, following an earlier notice to Uber. Stay informed with the latest business news, updates on bank holidays and public holidays . AI Masterclass for Students. Upskill Young Ones Today!– Join Now
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Business Standard
15-06-2025
- Business
- Business Standard
Bhavish Aggarwal's Krutrim bets on India-first AI to rival global peers
Krutrim, the artificial intelligence startup founded by Ola's Bhavish Aggarwal, is positioning its recently launched flagship assistant, Kruti, to stand apart from global peers like OpenAI's ChatGPT and Google's Gemini by leveraging deep local integration, multilingual capabilities, and agentic intelligence tailored to India's unique digital ecosystem. The company calls Kruti India's first agentic AI, capable of booking cabs, paying bills, and generating images while supporting 13 Indian languages using a localised large language model. In the Indian context, the firm competes with global AI giants such as OpenAI, Anthropic and Google, as well as local players such as Sarvam AI and 'Our key differentiator will come with integrating local services,' said Sunit Singh, Senior Vice-President for Product at Krutrim. 'That's not something that will be very easy for global players to do.' Krutrim has already integrated India-specific services, with plans to scale this integration further. The strategy aims to embed Kruti deeply into Indian digital life, allowing it to perform functional tasks through local service connections. This is an area where international competitors may struggle due to regulatory and infrastructural complexities in the Indian market. Voice-first As Krutrim positions Kruti to serve India's linguistically diverse population, the company is doubling down on voice-first, multilingual AI as a core enabler of scale and accessibility. Navendu Agarwal, Group CIO of Ola, emphasised that India's unique language landscape demands a fundamentally different approach from Western AI products. 'India is a voice-first world. So we are building voice-first models,' Agarwal said, outlining Krutrim's strategy to prioritise natural, speech-driven interactions. Currently, Kruti supports voice commands in multiple Indian languages, with plans underway to expand that footprint. Agarwal said the long-term vision is to enable seamless, speech-based interactions that go deeper into local dialects. The company's multilingual, voice-first design is central to its go-to-market strategy, especially in reaching non-English speakers in semi-urban and rural India. The plan also includes integrating with widely used Indian services and government platforms. Krutrim's long-term vision for Kruti centres on true agentic intelligence, where the assistant can act autonomously on behalf of users. Whether it's 'book me a cab to the airport' or 'order my usual lunch', Kruti understands intent and executes tasks without micromanagement. 'Think about it—a super agent which can do food, do apps, provide you help and education information and which can also manage your budget and finance,' said Agarwal. 'So that's what is a mega-agent, or the assistant which is communicating with all of them seamlessly wherever it is needed.' Hybrid technology Rather than relying solely on a single in-house model, Krutrim has opted for a composite approach aimed at optimising accuracy, scalability and user experience, according to Chandra Khatri, the company's Vice-President and Head of AI. 'The goal is to build the best and most accurate experience,' Khatri said. 'If that means we need to leverage, say Claude for coding, which is the best coding model in the world, we'll do that.' Kruti is powered by Krutrim's latest large language model, Krutrim V2, alongside open-source systems. The AI agents evaluate context-specific needs and choose from this suite of models to deliver tailored responses. Investments Krutrim reached unicorn status last year after raising $50 million in equity during its inaugural funding round. The round, which valued the company at $1 billion, included participation from investors such as Matrix Partners India. Earlier this year, company founder Bhavish Aggarwal announced an investment of ₹2,000 crore in Krutrim, with a commitment to invest an additional ₹10,000 crore by next year. The company also launched the Krutrim AI Lab and released some of its work to the open-source community. As Krutrim's AI assistant begins to interface with highly contextual and personal user data, the company emphasises a stringent, India-first approach to data privacy and regulatory compliance. The company employs internal algorithms to manage and isolate user data, ensuring it remains secure and compartmentalised. While Krutrim is open to competing globally, it remains committed to addressing India's market complexities first. 'We don't shy away from going global. But our primary focus is India first,' Agarwal said. Krutrim's emphasis on embedded, action-oriented intelligence—capable of not just understanding queries but also fulfilling them through integrations—could define its edge in the increasingly competitive AI landscape. Here, localisation and service depth may become as critical as raw model power.
Entrepreneur
13-06-2025
- Business
- Entrepreneur
Ola's Krutrim Unveils AI Assistant 'Kruti' with Agentic Capabilities for Everyday Tasks
The assistant is available in 13 Indian languages and can respond in various tones and formats ranging from concise summaries to detailed narratives depending on the user's needs and the conversation's context You're reading Entrepreneur India, an international franchise of Entrepreneur Media. Krutrim, India's first AI unicorn founded by Ola's Bhavish Aggarwal, has launched a new AI assistant named Kruti, aimed at redefining how Indians interact with digital assistants. Unlike conventional chatbots, Kruti is built with what the company calls "agentic" capabilities, meaning it can perform actions on behalf of users, not just respond to queries. The assistant supports both voice and text interactions and is designed to understand user intent, adapt to preferences, and execute tasks such as booking cabs, paying bills, ordering food, generating images, and assisting with research. Kruti marks a significant step forward for Krutrim, especially as it attempts to strengthen its position in India's fast-evolving AI ecosystem. The assistant is available in 13 Indian languages and can respond in various tones and formats ranging from concise summaries to detailed narratives depending on the user's needs and the conversation's context. The platform is also equipped with memory and contextual awareness, enabling it to personalise responses based on prior interactions. "Kruti is the first real step towards the future of AI where technology doesn't just talk back, but actually helps you get things done," said Bhavish Aggarwal, founder of Krutrim. "We've built Kruti to work the way Indians live multilingual, mobile-first and intuitive." The launch of Kruti comes after some scepticism from developers and industry observers, who had earlier raised concerns about the performance and reliability of Krutrim's language models and infrastructure. The new assistant is powered by Krutrim V2, the company's upgraded large language model, built using a combination of proprietary architecture and open-source technologies. To promote wider adoption, Krutrim is offering Kruti's advanced features including image generation, research assistance, and read-aloud capabilities free of charge. It also comes with a developer-friendly software development kit (SDK), enabling third-party platforms to embed Kruti's services, including its memory management and tool orchestration, with minimal coding effort. Beyond its individual capabilities, Kruti seeks to reduce the friction typically associated with switching between multiple apps. It delivers output in streamlined formats like tables, summaries, or story-style content that suit the user's device and situation. The assistant replaces Krutrim's earlier chatbot beta, reflecting the company's broader shift toward building AI that is more practical, accessible, and locally attuned.
