Zerodha’s Nikhil Kamath Set To Join Ather Captable

SUMMARY

The development comes just days after Ather secured INR 900 Cr (around $108 Mn) in a rights issue

Ather’s revenue stood at INR 1,806 Cr in FY23, a massive jump from INR 408.5 Cr in FY22

Kamath is an investor in Indian startups such as Nazara, Licious and Third Wave Coffee, among others

Zerodha cofounder Nikhil Kamath is set to join the captable of the electric two-wheeler manufacturer Ather Energy.

While specific details are yet to be disclosed, an ET report indicates that Kamath will invest via a secondary share sale.

The reports emerged just a few days after the Zerodha cofounder invested INR 100 Cr (around $12 Mn) in the listed online gaming startup Nazara Technologies.

Kamath also holds a stake in Licious and Third Wave Coffee Roasters, along with recent investments such as The Mainstreet Marketplace, Metaman, NAS Academy and Growth School.

Just two weeks back, Ather secured INR 900 Cr (around $108 Mn), in a rights issue from Hero MotoCorp and Singapore’s GIC. Hero MotoCorp, which already holds a 33.1% stake in Ather Energy, would invest up to INR 550 Cr in the EV startup’s rights issue.

Initially, it was looking to raise $250 Mn at a $1.3 Bn valuation, however, shelved the plans amid prevailing market conditions, The Arc reported. The EV startup was valued at around $750 Mn during its previous round.

Ather has two core products – the Ather 450X and the Ather 450S. The startup has been looking to expand its product portfolio and was looking to finance the same via the $250 Mn funding round.

Ather’s revenue stood at INR 1,806 Cr in FY23, a massive jump from INR 408.5 Cr in FY22.

For some context, Ola Electric, India’s largest electric two-wheeler seller, accounted for almost a third of all the electric scooters sold in India in August, according to government statistics available on the VAHAN portal. The startup also recently launched a new generation of electric scooters and announced four electric bikes, taking its total current and planned products to nine.

Ather Energy is also facing a hit to sales since the rollback of the government’s Faster Adoption of Manufacturing of Electric Vehicles (FAME-II) subsidies this June. In that month, Ather sold 15,420 units, a number which fell to 6,835 units in August.