Ather Energy Joins Unicorn League By Raising $71 Mn Funding From NIIF

Electric two-wheeler manufacturer Ather Energy has reportedly secured funding of INR 600 Cr ($71 Mn) from existing investor National Investment and Infrastructure Fund (NIIF) at a post-money valuation of  $1.3 Bn.

Ather is the latest to join India’s unicorn club this year after Bhavish Agarwal’s AI startup Krutrim AI, fintech SaaS startup Perfios and ride-hailing portal Rapido.

The development was reported by the Economic Times.

Founded in 2013 by Tarun Mehta and Swapnil Jainy, Ather Energy is one of the major players in the Indian electric two-wheeler market. Besides manufacturing and servicing electric two wheelers, the startup also operates its own charging infrastructure and is involved in storage, distribution and management of electric power and other ancillary services.

Inc42 has reached out to Mehta for comments on the development. The story will be updated based on his response.

The EV company had NIIF on board as an investor during its Series E round of $128 Mn alongside an existing investor Hero MotoCorp, among others.

This new capital raise follows its previous debt funding of INR 60 Cr (around $7.1 Mn) via non-convertible debentures (NCDs) from InnoVen Capital. 

Also, the EV maker is eyeing a public listing by the end of this year at a valuation of around $2 Bn. In the run up to its initial public offering (IPO) launch, the startup converted into a public entity last month.

Besides the conversion into a public entity, the startup is also increasing its authorised share capital to INR 50 Cr from INR 93.6 Lakh.

The EV startup counts Hero MotoCorp, Flipkart cofounder Sachin Bansal and Zerodha cofounder Nikhil Kamath, among its investors.

Meanwhile, Ather Energy’s net loss widened 22.5% to INR 1,059.7 Cr in FY24 from INR 864.5 Cr in FY23, as per the annual report of Hero MotoCorp.

However, the startup’s revenue from operations rose 0.3% to INR 1,789.10 Cr during the year under review from INR 1,783.60 Cr in FY23.

Just last month, Bengaluru-based Rapido bagged a funding of $120 Mn (about INR 1,000 Cr) from existing investor WestBridge Capital at a post-money valuation of a little over $1 Bn, in a Series E funding round through three of its related entities – Setu AIF Trust, Konark Trust, and MMPL Trust.

Updated at 02:15 PM

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