BENGALURU: Serial entrepreneur and Flipkart co-founder Sachin Bansal has invested Rs 170 crore ($23 million) in Bengaluru-based electric scooter start-up Ather Energy. The Series D funding round also saw participation from Hero MotoCorp, the largest stake holder in Ather Energy. Bansal, who was one of the start-ups early backers, has been gradually acquiring equity in Ather, with total investment in the company currently at `392 crore ($53 million) for a 20 per cent stake.
Bansal is also working on his fintech venture Navi Technologies with a focus on rural market. As for Hero MotoCorp, it has raised its stake in Ather Energy to 34.58 per cent, with the current round seeing an investment of `89 crore. The EV start-up has already introduced a new range of EV bikes recently and plans to utilise the capital from the Series D round for expanding into new markets such as Pune, Ahmedabad, Mumbai, Delhi, Coimbatore, Kochi, Kozhikode, and Kolkata.
It is also planning to build up its Ather Grid network in cities it has a presence in. In order to cater to an increased demand for EV vehicles, the start-up is also setting up a new manufacturing facility in Tamil Nadu with a capacity 1 million vehicles every year.
“Post the successful launch of our new product line, we are now looking forward to delivering the vehicles and seeing them across all cities. The pandemic has changed the landscape of personal transport and we hope that with high performance alternatives available people will choose electric vehicles for their daily commute,” Tarun Mehta, co-founder, CEO, Ather Energy said.