India’s largest two-wheeler maker Hero MotoCorp on Friday announced a further investment of Rs 84 crore (US$11million) in Ather Energy, taking up its shareholding in the company to 34.58 per cent.
Prior to the investment, Hero MotoCorp’s shareholding in Ather Energy was 31.27 per cent. Hero MotoCorp has been an investor in Ather since 2016, when it first invested as a part of Series B funding. The bikemaker had then committed a total investment of Rs 205 crore.
Rajat Bhargava, Head of Emerging Mobility Business Unit (EMBU), Global Business & Strategy, Hero MotoCorp, said, “We see immense potential for them(Ather) to expand their market even further, especially given the likely growth of electric vehicles (EV) in the near future. In addition to our efforts of developing a robust external eco-system for EVs, we are also aggressively working on our internal EV program. Our aim is to provide accessible electric mobility to customers across the globe. Sustainability and clean, green environment remain central to our vision to be the future of mobility.”
Founded by IITians Tarun Mehta and Swapnil Jain in 2013, Bengaluru-based Ather currently manufactures two electric scooter models, Ather 450X and Ather 450, and has plans to expand its portfolio and reach. Ather is looking to scale its operations beyond Bengaluru and Chennai to up to 20 cities by the end of 2021.
Ather is also opening a new manufacturing facility in Hosur, which will produce 100,000 units annually, and is scalable to 500,000 units. The company had also said setting up fast charging points across India over the next five years.
Hero MotoCorp, on the other hand, is yet to develop electric scooters and motorcycles under its brand name, and is backing this startup to realise its EV goals. India’s electric two-wheeler space is dominated by new-age players such as Okinawa, Avan and Revolt, while another Hero Group company- Hero Electric is the market leader. Traditional players such as Bajaj Auto and TVS recently ventured this space with electric scooters.
Apart from Hero MotoCorp, Ather’s investors include former Flipkart promoters Sachin Bansal and Binny Bansal and US hedge fund titan Tiger Global.
