Ather Energy turns unicorn after $71 million funding from NIIF

Ather Energy

Electric two-wheeler manufacturer Ather Energy has secured $71 million in a new funding round led by its existing investor, the National Investment and Infrastructure Fund (NIIF), which takes the valuation to $1.3 billion, making it a unicorn startup, sources familiar with the matter informed Moneycontrol.

A unicorn is a privately held company valued at or above $1 billion. There are about 106 unicorns in India.

The company has been raising multiple rounds of funding since the end of 2023. In May this year, Ather raised Rs 286 crore ($34 million) through a mix of debt and equity, largely through venture debt and co-founders.

Venture debt firm Stride Ventures has invested close to Rs 200 crore via debentures, while Ather's co-founders Tarun Sanjay Mehta and Swapnil Jain pumped in Rs 43.28 crore each via Series F preference shares.

In September last year, Hero MotoCorp, its existing shareholder has announced its board's approval to invest Rs 550 crore into Ather Energy.

In October of 2022, Ather Energy raised $50 million in equity funding led by its existing investor Caladium Investment Pte Ltd with participation from Navam Capital-backed Herald Square Ventures.

The Economic Times was the first to report the developments on Ather's unicorn status.

This milestone comes at a time when Ather is aiming to tap the public market by 2025, and has picked HSBC Holdings Plc, Nomura Holdings Inc. and JPMorgan Chase & Co. to help arrange the initial public offering.

Founded in 2013 by IIT Madras graduates Tarun Mehta and Swapnil Jain, Ather Energy has till date sold over 1.73 lakh electric scooters and is backed by HeroMoto Corp, Tiger Global and GIC.

Ather is among the top four electric scooter manufacturers in India along with Ola Electric, TVS and Bajaj Auto.

Ather Energy clocked a consolidated revenue of Rs 1,753 crore in the financial year 2024, which was 1.7 percent lower year-on-year (YoY).

The two-wheeler player has joined the list of startups that have achieved unicorn status in the past eight months. In May 2024, Porter entered the unicorn club following an internal funding round. Additionally, AI startup Krutrim and B2B SaaS company Perfios have also reached unicorn status within this period.