Ather Enters Unicorn Club With New Round Of Funding From NIIF, India's Infrastructure Focussed Sovereign Wealth Fund

Homegrown electric two-wheeler manufacturer Ather Energy has entered the unicorn club after raising Rs 600 crore ($71 million) in a fresh round of funding from the National Investment Infrastructure Fund (NIIF), India's infrastructure-focused sovereign wealth fund.

In May 2022, NIIF first invested in Ather through its Strategic Opportunities Fund (SOF). NIIF reportedly owns around 7-8% stake in the company.

With the latest round of funding, Ather is valued at Rs 10,915 crore($1.3 billion) catapulting the EV maker into the league of unicorns in India. A unicorn is a privately held company valued at or above $1 billion. There are about 106 unicorns in India.

In May this year, Ather raised Rs 286 crore ($34.5 million) through a combination of debt and equity. While venture debt firm Stride Ventures invested Rs 200 crore through non-convertible debentures, the company's co-founders Tarun Sanjay Mehta and Swapnil Jain infused  Rs 43.28 crore each via Series F preference shares.

In June this year, India's two-wheeler major Hero MotoCorp invested Rs 124 crore ($14.5 million)n in Ather. Hero MotoCorp is the largest shareholder in Ather. It holds over 40% of the firm’s total shareholding.  In September last year, Hero announced that it had infused Rs 550 crore into Ather Energy.

Hero MotoCorp, Sachin Bansal, Caladium Investment, Tiger Global, and Navam Capital are the other significant investors in the company.

The entry to the hallowed unicorn club comes amid the company's plans to file for its initial public offering (IPO). It recently converted from a private company to a public limited company in June this year. It has appointed HSBC Holdings, Nomura Holdings, and JPMorgan Chase & Co. to help with the proposed IPO.

Ather, which ranks among the top four electric scooter manufacturers in India along with Ola Electric, TVS, and Bajaj Auto, clocked a consolidated revenue of Rs 1,753 crore in the financial year 2023-2024

Ather recently announced its decision to set up a manufacturing facility worth Rs 2,000 crore in Maharashtra’s Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar district.

Founded in 2013 by Mehta and Jain, both graduates of the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Madras graduates, Ather’s product range at present consists of four electric scooter variants.

The company is also involved in setting up electric grids capable of charging electric cars as well as electric scooters.

The electric scooter maker has operational production facilities at Whitefield in Bengaluru, Karnataka, and another in Tamil Nadu’s Hosur.