Electric scooter maker Ather Energy has raised $50 million, led by existing backer Caladium Investment, regulatory filings sourced through business intelligence platform Tofler showed.
Herald Square Ventures also participated in the latest funding round.
The company has been valued at $700-800 million after the round, sources aware of the development said.
According to a source, the latest round is an extension of its $128 million fundraise in May, which was led by India’s sovereign wealth fund National Investment and Infrastructure Fund (NIIF) and Hero MotoCorp.
The company will use the fresh capital to scale up its manufacturing capacity as demand for electric vehicles has jumped this year. Its second manufacturing facility, which has the capacity to make 400,000 units a year, is ready to start production.
Sources told ET that the company’s current annual revenue run rate for FY23 is over Rs 1,000 crore. This is more than double the Rs 408 crore revenue for FY22, which was five times its revenue in the previous financial year.
The company, a source said, has already started talks with different stakeholders to set up a third manufacturing facility. The company launched a new variant of its 450x scooter in July with a bigger battery.
Ather Energy declined to comment when contacted.
The latest funding comes amid intensifying competition in the electric two-wheeler space. Hero MotoCorp, Ather’s biggest investor, unveiled its first electric scooter on October 7.
According to industry sources, Ola Electric is expected to unveil another scooter that is priced below Rs 80,000 on October 22. Ola Electric declined to comment on the development.
Meanwhile, electric vehicle companies are also facing the heat for claiming the Rs 10,000 crore Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of (Hybrid and) Electric Vehicles in India (FAME)-II subsidy without sourcing the required number of components locally.
ET reported on October 7 that EV two-wheeler makers Hero Electric and Okinawa have been served a notice by the government for not meeting the required localisation norms.
The government is also making it mandatory for EV two-wheelers to go through more rigorous testing standards after more than a dozen vehicles caught fire during the summer.
Ather Energy co-founder Tarun Mehta told ET in May that the company was expected to close two funding rounds this year as it ramps up production for its electric scooters. These two funding rounds are expected to close the gap with rival Ola Electric in terms of valuation, Mehta said in May.
While Ola Electric is valued at $5 billion, Ather has not yet become a unicorn, or a privately held company with a valuation of $1 billion or more.
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On a direction from the heavy industries ministry, dozens of electric two-wheelers have been bought back from customers to pull them apart and inspect whether the manufacturers have violated the localisation rules under the government’s flagship EV-promotion scheme, Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of Electric and hybrid vehicles in India (FAME-India).
The world’s largest contract electronics maker, Foxconn already plays a lynchpin role in assembling gadgets for a host of top international brands including Apple’s iPhone.
