Electric scooter maker Ather Energy has raised Rs 140 crore (around $16.9 million) in equity funding from 2-wheeler major Hero Morocorp Corp Ltd (HMCL), for an additional 3% stake in the Bengaluru-based company.
Following the acquisition of the additional stake, HMCL now owns 39.7% in the electric mobility company against 36.7% it held earlier.
The latest stake buy comes just over three months after Ather had raised Rs 900 crore from Hero MotoCorp and Singaporean sovereign wealth fund GIC via a rights issue. Of this, HMCL had invested Rs 550 crore, and raised its shareholding from 33.1% to 36.7%.
Ather was founded in 2013 and competes directly with Ola Electric, which is reportedly looking to raise more than Rs 6,600 crore via an initial public offering (IPO).
Incidentally Ather Energy is also looking to come up with an IPO by Diwali 2024 or early 2025.
Ather was founded a decade ago by two IIT Madras graduates Tarun Mehta and Swapnil Jain and has sold more than 1.7 lakh electric scooters till now. Apart from Ola, it also counts among its competitors TVS and Bajaj Auto, and ranks among the top four electric scooter companies in India.
Ather’s turnover for the years ended March 2023 was Rs 1,806.1 crore, March 2022 was Rs 413.8 crore and March 2021 was Rs 79.8 crore.
Apart from selling electric two-wheelers, it also manages charging infrastructure and is involved in storage, distribution and management of EV batteries.
Ather and HMCL have also inked a pact to jointly set up a fast charging network for electric two wheelers across India. As per their pact, the two will set up 1900 fast charging stations across 100 Indian towns and cities.
