Shark Tank India’s Anupam Mittal recalls his investments, reveals Ola has been the best one: ‘Exited with several hundred crores’ | Television News
Shark Tank India judge Anupam Mittal recently shared insights into his investment journey, recounting his initial reluctance to invest in Ola in 2011.
Shark Tank Season 3 judge and entrepreneur Anupam Mittal recently shared insights into his investment journey, recounting his initial reluctance to invest in Ola. Despite rejecting the opportunity twice, Mittal eventually recognised the potential of the ride-hailing company, making it one of his most profitable investments to date.
In a conversation with CNBC-TV18, Mittal revealed how Ola’s CEO, Bhavish Aggarwal, personally attended to customer calls during the company’s early stages. Reflecting on his initial skepticism, Mittal admitted, “I didn’t think that companies like Ola will become that big. Who was thinking billions of dollars? Ola was in 2011. In fact, I said no to Bhavish Aggarwal, CEO of Ola cabs, two times. This was because you invest in things based on your perspective in life. In Mumbai, you walk out of the door and you get kaali peeli taxis. So there is no problem of taxi here. But when I was in Delhi, I realised there were no taxis. A taxi will come only if you call them. So, I came back and called Ola’s call centre, which Bhavish himself used to answer. I told him boss there is a problem and since he is at it, we can make something of it.
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Later in the interview, Anupam called Ola one his most lucrative investments so far. He said, “Cash in cash out interactive avenues were good. Because it was only a matter of few years and we exited with several hundred crores. Because I owned such a significant chunk of the company, I got all cash. The other one was Makaan.com. I founded that company also. Interestingly, we were on the verge of closing it because of lack of capital. So, I invested some money in it from the money I earned from interactive avenues and spun it out. REA group bought us out and I made multiple times my money in a window of two years. But in terms of return and absolute value Ola still values at the top.”
Anupam Mittal, renowned as the founder and CEO of People Group and Shaadi.com, has not only spearheaded successful ventures like Shaadi.com but has also emerged as a prominent investor on Shark Tank Seasons 1, 2, and 3.
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First uploaded on: 14-02-2024 at 16:53 IST
