EV Development Gets A Boost — Hero MotoCorp To Invest Rs 130 Crore In Ather Energy

Ather Energy is one of the few successful electric vehicle manufacturing startups in India and recently launched the Ather 340 and 450 electric scooters. The launch of the 340 was delayed by a couple of years due to extended and rigorous product testing.

In this extended period, Ather Energy also worked on developing infrastructure for electric vehicles and came up with AtherGrid - A self-reliant charging infrastructure system. Keeping all this in mind, it is obvious that Ather Energy has come a long way so far and is well on its way to become of the make-in-India success stories.

Hero MotoCorp had earlier invested Rs 205 crore in Ather Energy back in 2016 and currently owns a 32.31 percent stake in the brand. By investing an additional Rs 130 crore, Hero MotoCorp would have a greater stake in Ather Energy.

Ather Energy will issue 66,320 compulsorily convertible debentures for the Investment. The price of the debentures would be known only after Ather Energy completes its next funding round.

Ather Energy has so far raised nearly Rs 425 crore in investments coming from big players like Hero MotoCorp, Tiger Global and Flipkart co-founders Sachin Bansal and Binny Bansal. The rapid growth of Ather Energy combined with the vision that the company has has enabled them to attract these huge investments.

Ather Energy was founded in 2013 by Tarun Mehta and Swapnil Jain who had both graduated from the Indian Institute of technology (IIT), Madras. Being IIT graduates, both co-founders of Ather Energy were well-versed with technology and knew that the future is electric.

In 2016, Ather Energy revealed the S340 electric smart scooter. Though it was set for a launch almost immediately, testing it took longer than expected. However, the company kept going at it and launched charging infrastructure before actually launching the scooter itself.

At the product launch event held last month, Ather Energy surprised the world by launching two scooters - Ather 340 and 450. The electric vehicle manufacturer has priced the scooters at Rs 1,09,750 and Rs 1,24,750 respectively.

Competition is certainly heating up in the electric vehicle market in India, more specifically the electric two-wheeler market. Ather Energy is taking in orders and delivering scooters to customers while simultaneously developing their next products.

Competitors like Tork Motorcycles, Emflux Motors, etc are also stepping up with funding and investment.

Thoughts On Hero MotoCorp Investing In Ather Energy

The importance of electric vehicles and the role they would be playing in transport in the near future has dawned upon almost everybody. This is now leading people to buy electric vehicles and companies to invest in more electric vehicles. The additional investment pumped in by Hero MotoCorp will definitely help Ather Energy develop their next product faster.