[Funding alert] Ather Energy raises $35M in Series D round led by Sachin Bansal

Ather Energy on Saturday raised $35 million in its latest round of Series D round led by Sachin Bansal, who invested $23 million in the Bengaluru-based electric scooter manufacturer. Hero MotoCorp also invested $12 million in this round.

With this round, the co-founder of now Walmart-owned Flipkart has made a total investment of $53 million in the EV startup. In 2014, Sachin had invested $500,000 in Ather Energy.

With this fresh capital, Ather Energy will be accelerating its expansion plans and speed up the deliveries of the Ather 450X.

Speaking on the investment, Tarun Mehta, Co-founder and CEO, Ather Energy, said,

"Post the successful launch of our new product line, we are now looking forward to delivering the vehicles and seeing them across all cities. The pandemic has changed the landscape of personal transport, and we hope that with high-performance alternatives available, people will choose electric vehicles for their daily commute.”

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Founded in 2013 by IIT Madras alumni Tarun Mehta and Swapnil Jain, and backed by the co-founders of Flipkart Sachin Bansal and Binny Bansal, Hero Motocorp, and Tiger Global, Ather Energy launched India’s first electric scooter Ather 450 in 2018, followed by its flagship product Ather 450X in 2020.

It has also installed a comprehensive public charging network — Ather Grid — built and designed in India. With 38 charging points in Bengaluru and 14 charging points in Chennai, Ather Grid is one of the largest fast-charging networks for EVs in the country.

According to the startup, the deliveries of Ather 450X will commence in Bengaluru and Chennai by next week and will be available in other cities, including Delhi, Kolkata, Mumbai, Ahmedabad, Pune, Hyderabad, Coimbatore, Calicut, and Kochi by March 2021.

“Ather Energy has set a new benchmark for intelligent electric bikes in the Indian automobile industry. Their new product line and expansion plans across the country will make EVs a part of the Indian landscape. Having been a part of the team since 2014, it's great to see their vision taking shape,” said Sachin Bansal.