New Delhi : Some adventurous people started startups to make electric two-wheelers in India, but when the government announced to cut the subsidy under the Fame-2 scheme after the month of July, they faced financial weakness. In fact, startups all over the world including India faced financial crisis when Silicon Bank, one of the 16 major banks of America, declared itself bankrupt. The reason for this is that most of the money of India’s startups was deposited in this bank. Or rather, their business was run through this bank. After its sinking, the Indian government dealt another blow by cutting the subsidy. After this, his hands and feet started creaking. Now that the Indian government has cut the subsidy given to startups and companies manufacturing electric vehicles under the Fame-2 scheme, then Bengaluru based startup Ather Energy, which has been launching scooters one after the other in the Indian electric vehicle market, is facing a tough time. An economic crisis has arisen. Now this startup has raised around Rs 900 crore from India’s leading two-wheeler manufacturer Hero MotoCorp and GIC to launch its upcoming product. For this, this startup sold the rights of its shares to these two companies. There are apprehensions and speculations that many products of Ather’s launch period may fall into trouble.
Ather Energy pledges share rights
According to a report by HT Auto, Ather Energy has announced to raise fresh investment of Rs 900 crore from its existing shareholders Hero MotoCorp and GIC through a rights issue. The announcement comes a day after Hero MotoCorp in a regulatory filing said it would inject Rs 550 into Ether. The electric two-wheeler maker plans to use the fresh funding for new product launches and expansion of charging infrastructure and retail network.
No new product available
Let us tell you that Ather Energy has not announced any details about what its product will be and whether the new product will be launched or not, but recent reports suggest that this startup is making a new family electric scooter. Currently, Ather has two models 450S and 450X on sale. Both are based on the same platform, but differ in battery output and features.
What does the CEO of Ather Energy say?
Commenting on the investment by Hero MotoCorp and GIC, Tarun Mehta, CEO and Co-Founder, Ather Energy, said that there was strong support for the rights issue and we are very happy to see the confidence displayed by the shareholders. In the last few years, it has been known that how fast the trend of electric vehicles is increasing in India and it can be led by two wheelers only. We have always believed that this transformation will be led by world-class technology and products designed and manufactured in India and this will be no different from our biggest ever expenditure on Research and Development in the year 2023-24. This round will allow us to expand our product portfolio while expanding our footprint.
Ather Energy’s expenses increased 4.4 times
For FY23, Ather Energy says its revenue is expected to grow 4.4 times to Rs 1,783 crore from Rs 408 crore in FY22. The startup has quadrupled its retail network from 30 outlets to 130 experience centers in a year. Ather says it has over 200 retail touchpoints in over 100 cities across the country. The company’s public fast-charging network is the 1,500 Ather Grid.