“So far, our scooters have worn green number plates and zipped across Indian roads. Soon, they’ll be sporting different ones as they warp through the hills and valleys of Nepal,” posted Mehta.
Elevate Your Tech Prowess with High-Value Skill Courses
| Offering College | Course | Website |
|---|---|---|
| Indian School of Business | ISB Product Management | Visit |
| Northwestern University | Kellogg Post Graduate Certificate in Product Management | Visit |
| Indian School of Business | ISB Digital Transformation | Visit |
| Indian School of Business | ISB Professional Certificate in Product Management | Visit |
Recently, the Tiger Global-backed EV startup secured Rs 900 crore in funding from two-wheeler major Hero MotoCorp and Singaporean sovereign wealth fund GIC, both of which are existing shareholders in Ather.
Hero is also Ather’s largest shareholder, with a 34.2% stake prior to the latest investment, according to data from market intelligence platform Tracxn.
ET reported on September 18 that Nikhil Kamath, cofounder of online stock brokerage Zerodha, is set to join Ather Energy’s cap table with a fresh investment in the firm.
Discover the stories of your interest
While it isn’t clear how much Kamath will invest in Ather, one source told ET that the transaction would be made through a secondary share sale, and that the deal is nearing completion.
Bumpy road
Ather was last valued at $739 million during a $50 million fundraising last October, according to Tracxn. Media reports suggested that the firm was set to raise a further $250 million at a $1.3 billion valuation this year, but shelved the plan amid a broader tech funding slowdown and a sales hit after the rollback of the government subsidy for electric vehicles in June.
According to Vahan, the government’s portal for automobile registration, Ather sold 6,835 units in August while its younger rival Ola Electric remains the biggest electric scooter seller, accounting for 17,389 of the more than 59,000 electric two-wheelers sold in the country in August.
In an interview with ET in late August, Mehta said the firm was looking to manufacture and sell about 16,000 vehicles per month by October 2023. He said Ather was working on a new “family scooter,” targeted to release in late 2023 or early 2024.