EV Startup Ather Energy Raises Rs 84 Cr from Hero MotoCorp

Tarun Mehta and Swapnil Jain led electric vehicle (EV) startup Ather Energy has raised Rs 84 crore from the country’s largest two-wheeler maker Hero MotoCorp as an extension of series C round.

The New Delhi-based auto major has been a part of Bengaluru-based EV startup’s growth story since 2016, when they first invested as a part of Series B.

This round is a reinstatement of confidence by existing investors in Ather’s potential and success, Ather Energy said in a statement.

Commenting on the latest fund raising, Tarun Mehta, Co-founder & CEO, Ather Energy, said quoted PTI that “we are in a high growth phase of our journey, and while the last few months have been challenging, we have not altered our expansion plans.”

He further added that “our geographic expansion and the roll-out schedule for the Ather 450X are on track, and we will be using these funds to invest in our facilities to meet the demand we have seen for the Ather 450X across the country.”

The company revealed its plan and said that in order to meet the projected demand in the coming years, it is opening a new manufacturing facility in Hosur, which is designed to produce 1 lakh units every year, and is scalable to 5 lakh units.

Additionally, Ather will also set up ‘Ather Grid fast charging points’ across the country over the next 5 years, making public charging easy and accessible to all EV owners.

On the other hand, Hero MotoCorp Head of Emerging Mobility Business Unit (EMBU), Global Business & Strategy Rajat Bhargava said reported PTI that “the company sees immense potential in Arther Energy to expand its market even further, especially given the likely growth of EV in the near future.”

Bhargava also added that “in addition to our efforts of developing a robust external eco-system for EVs, we are also aggressively working on our internal EV programme. Our aim is to provide accessible electric mobility to customers across the globe. Sustainability and a clean, green environment remain central to our vision to be the future of mobility.”

Meanwhile, Bengaluru-based company said that it is now entering an “aggressive expansion phase on the back of its flagship product, Ather 450X electric scooter, and is looking to scale to 20 cities by the end of 2021.” This 450X electric scooter will soon be available in cities like Hyderabad, Pune, Delhi and Mumbai, with deliveries beginning in October 2020.