Ather Energy, the electric two-wheeler manufacturer has announced that it has raised an investment of $35 million in its latest round of Series D funding. The latest funding round was led by Sachin Bansal’s $23 million investment in the electric vehicle company.
Hero MotoCorp also invested $12 million in Ather Energy as part of the latest funding round. The Series D round of investment will allow Ather Energy to accelerate its expansion plans and speed up deliveries of Ather 450X electric scooter, as the EV manufacturer claims.
As Ather Energy claims, this continued investment by the existing investors is a manifestation of confidence in the brand and the sector.
Ather Energy has been pushing forward rapidly to expand its outlets across India. The EV company has opened showrooms in nine new cities, which are Ahmedabad, Coimbatore, Delhi, Kochi, Kolkata, Kozhikode, Kolkata, Mumbai and Pune. Also, Ather Energy is gearing up to install the Ather Grid in all of the new cities in the coming days.
The electric scooter manufacturer said a few days ago that it is moving to a new manufacturing facility in Hosur, Tamil Nadu. The new plant is spread over 400,000 sq.ft area, and capable of rolling out up to 10,00,000 electric vehicles every year. Production at the facility is expected to commence from December 2020.
Besides the electric scooters, Ather Energy will also produce EV batteries, with imported Lithium-ion cells at the site. The same manufacturing plant would be utilized to manufacture Ather’s electric motorcycle, though this is still a few years out.
Commenting on the latest Series D funding Tarun Mehta, co-founder and CEO, Ather Energy, said, “After the successful launch of our new product line, we are now looking forward to delivering the vehicles and seeing them across all cities.” He also said that the Coronavirus pandemic has changed the landscape of personal transport, and Ather Energy hope that with high-performance alternatives available people will choose electric vehicles for their daily commute.
Sachin Bansal, the leading investor in the company in its Series D funding round, said, “Ather Energy has set a new benchmark for intelligent electric bikes in the Indian automobile industry. Its new product line and expansion plans across the country will make EVs a part of the Indian landscape.” He has been a part of the investor team for the company since 2014.
Ather 450X and Ather 450 Plus are the two main products which act as fulcrum to Ather Energy’s expansion plans in the country. The company has launched Ather 450X electric scooter in Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Chennai, Hyderabad, Mumbai and Pune on 7th November.
Ather plans to put the Ather 450 Plus and the Ather 450X on sale in a total of eleven cities by Q1 2021. These include Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Coimbatore, Delhi, Hyderabad, Kochi, Mumbai, Nagpur and Pune. As Ather Energy previously said, it plans to manufacture 8,000 units of the new Ather 450X and 450 Plus electric scooters every month and deliver to the customers within three weeks from the booking date.
Also Read: Hero Electric offers up to Rs 6,000 cash discount on electric scooters
