Electric two-wheeler startup Ather Energy on Wednesday announced that it has raised Rs 900 crore from Hero MotoCorp and GIC through a rights issue.
On Monday, Hero MotoCorp, the single largest shareholder in Ather, announced its intention of subscribing to the rights issue through an investment of Rs 550 crore. Singaporean sovereign wealth fund GIC subscribed to the balance Rs 350 crore.
Ather, which is India’s third-largest electric two-wheeler maker, said it plans to use the funds for new product launch and expansion of its charging infrastructure and retail network.
With this latest round, Hero will have made a total investment of Rs 917 crore in Ather since its first investment done in 2016. Ather’s loss attributable to the 33.1% stake held by Hero for FY23 stood at Rs 192.5 crore. The resultant rise in GIC’s stake in Ather was not immediately known.
According to disclosures made by Hero MotoCorp, Ather’s turnover for FY23 was Rs 1,806.1 crore, which was a four-fold growth compared to Rs 413.8 crore in FY22. The company also increased its retail footprint four times, to 130 stores from 30 stores last year.
Currently, Ather has over 200 retail touchpoints in across 100 cities and claims to have the largest public fast-charging networks for electric two-wheelers with over 1,500 Ather Grids.
Ather recently expanded its product portfolio with 2.9 kWh and 3.7 kWh battery options in the flagship 450X as well as an entry-level product, the 450S, to address a bigger segment of the two-wheeler market.
Tarun Mehta, CEO and co-founder, Ather Energy, said, “There was a strong support for the rights issue and we are very happy to see the confidence exhibited by shareholders. Last few years have demonstrated just how quick the EV transition in India can be and how it will be led by two-wheelers. This round will allow us to expand our product portfolio while expanding our footprint.”
As per Fintrackr’s estimates, Ather Energy was valued at around $750 million during a $50-million round in October last year. The company was on the verge of becoming the second unicorn in EV space after Ola Electric.
