Kamath invests in Indian startups including Nazara and Licious
Zerodha co-founder Nikhil Kamath is all set to join the team of electric two-wheeler manufacturer Ather Energy.
While specific details are yet to be revealed, some of the reports spread from trusted sources indicate that Kamath will invest through a secondary share sale.
The reports come just days after the Zerodha co-founder invested 100 Cr (about $12 million) in publicly traded online gaming startup Nazara Technologies.
Kamath also has stakes in Licious and Third Wave Coffee Roasters, as well as recent investments including The Mainstreet Marketplace, Metaman, NAS Academy, and Growth School.
Just two weeks ago, Ather received INR 900 Cr (about USD 108 million) in a rights issue from Hero MotoCorp and GIC of Singapore. Hero MotoCorp, which already holds a 33.1% stake in Ather Energy, will invest up to INR 550 Cr in the rights issue of the electric vehicle startup.
The company initially wanted to raise $250 million at a $1.3 billion valuation, but it abandoned those plans due to current market conditions, The Arc reported. The EV startup was valued at around $750 million in the previous round.
Ather offers two main products: the Ather 450X and Ather 450S. The startup is looking to expand its product portfolio and is looking to fund it through a $250 million funding round. Ather’s revenue reached INR 1,806 Cr in FY23, up significantly from INR 408.5 Cr in FY22.
For some context, Ola Electric, India’s largest seller of electric two-wheelers, accounted for nearly a third of all electric scooters sold in India in August, according to government statistics available on the VAHAN gate. The startup also recently launched a new generation of electric motorbikes and announced four e-bikes, bringing the total number of current and planned products to nine.
Ather Energy is also facing a decline in sales since government subsidies for faster adoption of electric vehicle manufacturing (FAME-II) were removed last June. During that month, Ather sold 15,420 units, which dropped to 6,835 units in August.
If you are an EV manufacturer (or) EV Dealer (or) EV Supporter who want to share news related to electric vehicles on our website, please send an email to crm@electricvehicles.in
For the latest electric vehicles news,
follow electricvehicles.in on
and our YouTube Channels