To meet the projected demand in the coming years, the company is planning a new manufacturing facility which will be designed to produce 1 million vehicles a year.
Electric vehicle startup Ather Energy on May 28 has raised $51 million in a round led by existing investor Sachin Bansal.
While Bansal has invested $32 million, Hero MotoCorp has converted its convertible debt of $19 million as a part of this round.
In addition to this, Innoven Capital has extended an $8 million venture debt.
"The traditional auto industry is up for a redefinition. Watching Ather closely since my early investment in 2014, I am convinced that the ecosystem that Ather is building with their products is the future of urban mobility. Their focus on an end-to-end customer experience will open up new revenue opportunities and accelerate the adoption of electric vehicles in India. The future is electric and I am excited to be a part of this journey in shaping the future," said Bansal.
The company’s flagship model, the Ather 450, has been for pre-orders in Bengaluru since June 2018 with deliveries beginning in September 2018. The scooters have piqued the interest of automobile and tech enthusiasts alike, selling out stocks till September 2019.
Ather is now entering an aggressive expansion phase, with the opening of pre-orders in Chennai in the coming weeks, and eventually scaling to 30 cities by the end of 2023.
To meet the projected demand in the coming years, the company is planning a new manufacturing facility which will be designed to produce 1 million vehicles a year.
Ather Energy also plans to set up 6,500 Ather Grid fast charging points across the country over the next five years with a projected investment of Rs 130 crore.
In the past 6 months, the Ather 450 owners have clocked more than 6 lakh km in Bengaluru and Ather Grid, the company’s public charging network, has 31 fast charging points in Bengaluru and seven fast charging points in Chennai.
"Electric vehicles are here to stay and Ather is playing a leading role in driving this change. Sachin has been part of our growth journey and this investment is a strong endorsement of the momentum we’ve built over these years. Post the successful launch in Bengaluru, we are eager to reach out to consumers in other cities and to build more products that will excite consumers to switch to electric vehicles. The changing landscape of personal transport has also offered us more opportunities and you will hear about the new business models that we are investing in very soon," said Tarun Mehta, co-founder and chief executive officer of Ather Energy.
