Hero MotoCorp invests INR 84 crore in Ather Energy
Electric scooter manufacturer, Ather Energy has raised INR 84 crores from Hero MotoCorp as an extension of its Series C round led by Sachin Bansal. Hero MotoCorp has been a part of Ather’s growth story since 2016 when they first invested as a part of Series B.
Ather mentioned that with this round of funding, they will be entering in an aggressive expansion phase on the back of Ather 450X, and looking to scale to 20 cities by the end of 2021. With this expansion, Ather 450X will soon be available in cities like Hyderabad, Pune, Delhi and Mumbai, with deliveries beginning in October 2020.
Tarun Mehta, Founder & CEO, Ather Energy
Tarun Mehta, Co-founder & CEO, Ather Energy: “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.”
With projections of high demand, Ather is opening a new manufacturing facility in Hosur, which is designed to produce 100,000 units annually, and scalable to half a million units. Additionally, It will also set up Ather Grid fast charging points across the country over the next 5 years, making public charging easy and accessible to all-electric vehicle owners.
Commenting on the investment, Rajat Bhargava, Head of Emerging Mobility Business Unit (EMBU), Global Business & Strategy, Hero MotoCorp, said“We are excited to see the growth of Ather Energy in 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 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 a clean, green environment remain central to our vision to be the future of mobility.”
In the past few weeks, Ather has been working on a slew of financing and ownership models to make electric vehicles more accessible for consumers everywhere. With INR 2589 monthly payments, Ather has also introduced India’s first personal lease program for scooters which makes the intelligent electric scooter available to the Indian two-wheeler market. Its one-stop daily usage solution Ather One offers doorstep to pick up and service, 24X7 roadside assistance, free charging at home and in public etc.
Ather has been rolling out OTA updates since September 2018, adding features like a dark theme, new ride modes, guide-me-home light, making them one of the fastest iteration cycles in the country.
