Electric bike maker Ultraviolette Automotive Pvt. Ltd has raised Rs 30 crore ($4.1 million) from existing investor TVS Motor Company as part of its Series B funding round.
TVS Motor said in a stock market disclosure its stake in Ultraviolette has risen to 29.48% after the investment.
TVS Motor had first acquired a 14.78% stake in the electric bike maker for Rs 5 crore in December 2017. In August 2018, the two-wheeler maker infused Rs 6 crore more into Ultraviolette to raise its stake to 25.76%.
Bengaluru-based Ultraviolette says it is building high-performance electric vehicles. The company had set out to build its first electric motorcycle – F77 – three years ago. It unveiled the pre-production version of F77 in November 2019 and plans to roll out the motorcycle next year in phases.
Incorporated in December 2015, Ultraviolette was founded by Narayan Subramaniam and Niraj Rajmohan.
Rajmohan said the company spent the last few months making design and technology enhancements on F77.
TVS Motor is among the handful of traditional manufacturing companies making bets on electric vehicle makers.
Hero MotoCorp Ltd has invested in electric scooter maker Ather Energy Pvt. Ltd. In July this year, Ather Energy raised another Rs 84 crore ($11.21 million) from Hero MotoCorp as an extension of its Series C funding round.
This investment increased the stake of Hero MotoCorp in Ather to 38.57% from 34.58%.
Also in July, engineering company Greaves Cotton Ltd signed a pact to acquire Bestway Agencies Pvt. Ltd, a Haryana-based company that develops and makes electric vehicles. In August 2018, Greaves Cotton had acquired electric two-wheeler maker Ampere from a bunch of investors including Tata Sons chairman emeritus Ratan Tata and Infosys co-founder Kris Gopalakrishnan.
