Ather Energy raises Rs 84 crore from existing investor Hero MotoCorp

Ather Energy, the Electric scooter manufacturer, has raised a fresh investment of INR 84 crore from existing investor Hero MotoCorp Ltd, as an extension of its Series C round that was led by Sachin Bansal last year.

Pawan Munjal-led Hero MotoCorp was the primary investor in Ather Energy’s Series B fund raise in 2016, where it led the $27 million financing into the startup. Further, Hero, the country’s largest manufacturer of two wheelers, also converted its debt of $19 million as part of the company’s last Series C1 fundraise announced in May 2019. Hero continues to be the largest equity investor in Ather Energy.

Ather is looking to aggressively expand its presence and scale to 20 cities by the end of 2021.

Moreover, the electric vehicle manufacturer begin to deliver its flagship scooter Ather 450X in Hyderabad, Pune, Delhi and Mumbai from October.

Ather will also open a manufacturing facility at Hosur in Karnataka, designed to produce 100,000 units annually and scalable to half a million units. The firm also plans to set up Ather Grid fast charging points across the country over 5 years.

“We are in a high growth phase of our journey, and while the last few months have been challenging, we have not altered our expansion plans. Our geographic expansion and the roll-out schedule for the Ather 450X are on track, and we will be using these funds to invest in our facilities to meet the demand we have seen for the Ather 450X across the country," Tarun Mehta, co-founder & CEO, Ather Energy.

Till date, Ather Energy has raised around $100 million in equity funding and counts the likes of Tiger Global Management, Flipkart co-founder Binny Bansal and Innoven Capital as its investors.

“We are excited to see the growth of Ather Energy in the recent years. We see immense potential for them 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 ecosystem for EVs, we are also aggressively working on our internal EV program," said Rajat Bhargava, Head of Emerging Mobility Business Unit (EMBU), Global Business & Strategy, Hero MotoCorp Ltd..

Over the past few weeks, Ather has been working on financing and ownership models, by introducing a personal lease program for scooters, with monthly payments as low as INR 2589.

Not so long ago, Ather partnered with two-wheeler buying and selling firm CredR, allowing consumers to exchange any old two-wheeler with a brand new electric scooter of Ather.

Recently, Indian app based ride hailing major, Ola also announced its entry in the two-wheeler electric vehicle market by acquiring Amsterdam-based EV manufacturer Etergo BV, through Ola Electric Mobility Pvt Ltd, the electric vehicle arm of Ola.

The acquisition suggests, Ola Electric will manufacture premium electric two-wheelers, and bring these electric-scooters on Indian roads by the start of 2021.

The details of the deal are

Sector: Manufacturing 

Completion date: 28th July 2020

Name of the client: Ather Energy Private Limited 

Ather Energy Pvt. Ltd. is an Indian electric vehicle company that manufactures smart electric scooters. Ather has also established electric vehicle charging infrastructure – AtherGrid.

Name of the counter party: Hero MotoCorp Limited

Deal description: Advised Ather Energy Private Limited and its founders on further investment by Hero MotoCorp Limited, an existing investor in Ather Energy Private Limited. Hero MotoCorp Limited invested USD 12 million in this investment round.

Deal Size: USD 12 million 

Team members: Rajiv Khaitan (Partner), Sanjay Khan Nagra (Partner), B N Vivek (Senior Associate), Ishita Agarwal (Senior Associate), and Sanjay Krishna (Associate). 

Role of firm: Khaitan advised Ather Energy Private Limited on drafting and review of transaction documents and the closing process

Other legal advisors: J. Sagar Associates