Ather Energy raises $250 million to stay ahead in competition

By Mateen Dalal

Electric scooter producer Ather Energy has reportedly secured $250 million in a new funding round.

As per reports, the investment round is in its early stages. The company’s goal is to obtain $200 million to $250 million to compete in the EV two-wheeler sector in India, which is currently led by Okinawa Autotech and Hero Electric.

For the records, Ather Energy raised USD 128 million in May, in an investment round which was led by National Infrastructure Investment Fund (NIIF)- the sovereign wealth fund- and Hero MotoCorp. Hero MotoCorp contributed nearly $56 million to the round.

It has been claimed that Ather Energy intends to use the capital to extend its retail network, its manufacturing facilities, and spend on R&D and charging infrastructure.

Ather Energy's CEO, Tarun Mehta stated that the company is already constructing a new plant and plans to raise its capacity from 10,000 to 35,000 monthly by 2022 end. Although about 1 million people could be accommodated next year.

Tarun added that the business is already making over USD 12.5 million in monthly revenues and plans to double that amount in FY23.

Reports speculate that the most recent $200–$250 investment round will enable Ather Energy to significantly outpace its competitors in the EV sector.

According to the latest government VAHAN data, Hero Electric continued to dominate the Indian electric vehicle (EV) two-wheeler market in August. It made a record-breaking sale of 10,476 vehicles in a single month. Meanwhile, Okinawa Autotech stood second with 8,554 vehicles sales.

Ola Electric, led by Bhavish Aggarwal, sold 3,421 electric two-wheelers in August, down from the 3,862 units it sold in July, depicting that it still must refocus its strategy.

For the unversed, from just 1,289 automobiles sold in July, Ather Energy experienced a huge increase to 5,239 vehicles sold in August. Whereas Ampere Vehicles Pvt Ltd. sold 6,319 previous months, and its sales increased slightly to 6,396.

Source - https://www.business-standard.com/article/companies/ev-maker-ather-energy-raising-up-to-250-mn-to-march-past-rivals-report-122090500910_1.html