Deeptech startups need easier access to capital: Ather CEO
In a fireside chat with Infosys Co-founder and Axilor Ventures Chairman, Kris Gopalakrishnan, at the Global Clean Mobility Summit, Ather’s CEO Tarun Mehta said capital remains a sticky point for deeptech startups in India.
Ather Energy Co-founder and CEO Tarun Mehta has underscored the capital needs of deeptech startups in India.
At Micelio Mobility’s Global Clean Mobility Summit in Bengaluru on Tuesday, Mehta said funding has been a difficult journey for most deeptech, hardware, and R&D-heavy startups in India, and India needs to ensure easier access to capital for them.
In a fireside chat with Infosys Co-founder and Axilor Ventures Chairman Kris Gopalakrishnan, Mehta pointed out that Ather had been lucky with respect to capital. He said it was “unbelievable how fortunate” the EV maker had been to find the capital it needed from the people who invested in it.
Ather Energy, which listed on the public bourses earlier this year raised its seed round from angel investor and IIT Madras alumni Srini V Srinivasan, CTO and Founder of US-based Aerospike.
Mehta recalled that the cheque was written based on an interaction he had with Srinivasan, who was visiting IIT Madras to give a talk to founders.
“I just walked in... Nobody else had come to meet him (Srinivasan), and I was the only founder. So I pitched to him, and he really liked the idea. Walked back with me, met the professor, and he said, 'Well, that's really cool. I'll invest $50,000,'" said Mehta.
Later, Binny Bansal and Sachin Bansal, the co-founders of ecommerce company Flipkart, became investors in Ather.
On Ather's listing, Mehta said, “The IPO was nothing but the last fundraise that we have done until now,” adding that the listing has not shifted the firm’s focus away from intense R&D. Ather continues to invest a significant amount of its revenue back into R&D, he said.
Mehta pointed out that a lot of VCs struggle with benchmarks while developing hardware and deeptech in India. There are no traditional metrics to measure progress like app downloads, order value, or GMV—metrics that VCs usually rely on to justify valuations, he said. “I think VCs will keep missing out on hardware, manufacturing, and deeptech opportunities in India until they come up with a new framework on how to evaluate companies.”
However, he also pointed out that there are now VC firms emerging focused only on deeptech bets.
In response to the need for deeptech capital, Gopalakrishnan brought to attention that the Indian government has set up a $12 billion VC fund to support research, development, and innovation.
At the summit, Mehta was honoured with the 'Individual Contributor of the Year' award by Micelio Mobility.
Edited by Swetha Kannan