Bhavish Agarwal rides new Ola e-scooter; Anand Mahindra calls it a ‘smart move’

Even as Ola continues to draw its customers’ ire over the delayed deliveries of its much-awaited e-scooter S1, its founder Bhavish Agarwal took the Ola scooter for a ride in Bengaluru’s Indiranagar. Agarwal was accompanied by Chief Marketing officer at Ola Varun Dubey.

“Me and Varun Dubey getting a coffee with Ola Electric S1 [scooter] at Araku Coffee in Indiranagar, Bengaluru. Come take a look,” Agarwal tweeted along with the Google Maps location of the café.

While this tweet could be an attempt by Agarwal to allay customer fears over the future of the Ola scooter, it grabbed the attention of the Mumbai-based business mogul Anand Mahindra.

The Mahindra Group boss then tweeted, “Smart move Bhavish. Araku café is the coolest location you could have selected. Make sure you don’t just stand next to your scooter all the time. Scoot inside the café and check it out. All of us at Naandi India and Araku Coffee are incredibly proud of it!”

Agarwal replied to this tweet and said, “I’m probably the most regular customer already sir! Great brand, product and service.”

CEO of the Naandi foundation Manoj Kumar also thanked Bhavish for paying a visit to the Araku café and said, “When we said that Araku coffee café in Bengaluru will be a destination, Bhavish made it happen at a new level – the café is the destination for showcasing the power of new India! See how Ola Electric unveils their electric scooter- confluence of Indian brands.”

Agarwal then told Kumar that he loves being at the Araku café and the “lovely people running it.”  To this Kumar said, “I know you are a regular patron and that’s a huge ring of endorsement for all of us. Keep coming and we will keep raising the bar.”

Incidentally, Mahindra is a member of the board of directors at Araku Coffee. Araku Coffee was founded by the Naandi Foundation in 2001 with 1 lakh tribal farmers to grow the Arabic coffee sustainably.  Mahindra is also among the board of directors at the Naandi foundation.

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