Bengaluru-based electric scooter manufacturer Ather Energy has successfully raised Rs 286 crore, equivalent to $34.5 million, through a combination of debt and equity financing. This marks the company’s first funding round of the year.
Stride Ventures played a significant role by investing Rs 200 crore through debentures. Simultaneously, co-founders Tarun Sanjay Mehta and Swapnil Babanlal Jain contributed Rs 43.28 crore each via Series F preference shares, as revealed in regulatory filings accessed from the Registrar of Companies.
In December of the previous year, Ather Energy secured its second-largest funding round, amounting to Rs 900 crore ($108 million), from existing investors Hero MotoCorp and GIC through a rights issue. Additionally, Hero MotoCorp acquired an extra 3% stake in Ather for Rs 140 crore (approximately $16.8 million) during the same period.
Recent media reports suggest that Ather is in discussions to raise an additional $95 million in a pre-IPO funding round. Another report indicates that Sachin Bansal, an existing investor, has sold a significant portion of his stake in the company to Zerodha co-founder Nikhil Kamath.
To date, Ather has raised around $450 million in total funding. Hero MotoCorp stands as the largest external stakeholder, followed by Sachin Bansal, Caladium Investment, and Tiger Global.
Despite substantial fundraising efforts, Ather Energy has faced financial challenges. The company’s revenue from operations surged 4.36 times to Rs 1,784 crore in FY23. However, its losses also spiked 2.5 times to Rs 864.5 crore during the same period. The financial results for FY24 are yet to be filed.
In the electric two-wheeler market, Ather Energy experienced a significant drop in sales in April, with units sold decreasing from 17,000 in March to 4,000. In contrast, Ola Electric sold over 33,000 units in April, capturing about 50% of the overall sales for the month.
