Ather Energy, the Bangalore based startup which is planning to revamp the electric scooter segment in the country has raised a whooping $12 million through a fresh round of investment from Tiger Global.
Ather Energy, the Bangalore based startup which is planning to revamp the electric scooter segment in the country has raised a whooping $12 million through a fresh round of investment from Tiger Global. The fresh inflow will be used by Ather for development, testing, production and launch of its first product, the Ather S340 (a smart electric two-wheeler).
The first product from Ather is a smart electric scooter and has been named Ather S340.
Tarun Mehta, CEO and co-founder of Ather Energy recently stated that Ather was planning to provide the Indian customers a completely new riding experience and that Ather is excited with the interest shown by Tiger Global and all other investors. Complementing Tarun Mehta’s statement, Lee Fixel, co-head of Tiger Global’s PE and VC investing arm said, “We are impressed with Ather’s vision of building smart electric vehicles that has a potential to revolutionise the driving experience … We see great potential in Ather’s product offering and the technology and are confident that their maiden launch will attract tremendous positive response.”
Ather Energy had received funding of $1 million from Flipkart owners, the Bansal brothers in 2014.
The start-up was started in 2013 by Tarun Mehta and Swapnil Jain, both alumni of IIT Madras. They had started small and now their team has evolved and consists of young engineering graduates. As of now, the team has already built the prototype which is powered by a 15 kg lithium-Ion battery pack and is capable of achieving a zero to 60 km/h in just 11 seconds. The scooter which is built on a light weight aluminium chassis can reach the 75 km/h mark. The battery is claimed to have a capacity to last for around 50,000 kms, which is an acceptable figure, however the range of the electric scooter hasn’t been disclosed, yet.
Test rides are expected to commence in October this year and a launch shall happen in the beginning of next year.
As the new government at the centre has been planning to support electric and hybrid vehicle manufactures, the pricing of the E-Scooter can be competitive, however will be certainly more than its oil gulping counterparts. It will be interesting to find out how the Indian customer reacts to the new product as it had faced a troubled past some years ago with the previous set of electric scooters.
Source : ET Auto
Related Posts