Exclusive: Ather Energy raises Rs 130 Cr from Hero Group

Electric scooter manufacturer Ather Energy has raised Rs 130 crore debt from existing investor Hero MotoCorp. This is the maiden infusion in the Bengaluru-based company this year. It had raised $35 million in its Series D round in Nov 2020.

Ather Energy has received a sanction letter from Hero FinCorp Limited [an associate company of Hero MotoCorp] for a loan amount of Rs 130.00 crore, regulatory filings show.

The Pawan Munjal-led group was the primary investor in Ather Energy’s Series B fundraise in 2016 and owns around 35% stake in the company.

The fresh fund has come at a time when Ather Energy is planning to increase its charging stations and expand its presence in more cities. 

Unlike in the past, the Tarun Mehta-led company is set to witness hyper-competition from Ola Electric which is slated to deliver its electric scooters S1 and S1 pro soon. Accel-backed Bounce and traditional scooter makers are also coming up with their respective portfolios of e-scooters.

Ola Electric had recently raised $200 million at a $3 billion valuation and according to media reports, it is raising another $200 million at over $5 billion valuation.

Bounce has also entered the fray with the acquisition of Gurugram-based 22 Motors. The company is expected to start delivering scooters by the end of this fiscal. Entrackr had exclusively reported the acquisition and the company’s EV’s ambition.

Currently, Hero Electric is the market leader which has 36% market share in India’s two-wheeler EV segment. At present, the two-wheeler major has 1,000 charging stations. To increase this by 10X [10,000 charging stations], it recently partnered with Massive Mobility

For the fiscal year ending on March 31, 2021, Ather Energy had posted a 126% jump in operating revenue which stood at Rs 79.8 crore in FY21. While the majority of this revenue is generated via the sale of EV scooters, collections from the after-sales service vertical have also grown 433.34% to Rs 1.6 crore during the last fiscal.

Even with a 126% increase in sales, its annual losses had increased by only 6% to Rs 233.3 crore in FY21 as compared to Rs 220 crore lost in FY20. The company is aiming to turn profitable at the operating level in FY22 and is in the market to raise a new equity round.