Last year, Hero had hiked about 3% stake in Ather Energy for about Rs 340 crore.
Recently, Ather Energy has raised Rs 286 crore from its founders and Stride Ventures in a mix of debt and equity funding.
Ather’s cofounders Tarun Mehta and Swapnil Jain invested Rs 86 crore in the firm through series F compulsorily convertible preference shares, while debt fund Stride Ventures invested Rs 200 crore through series C3 debentures, documents filed by Ather with the Registrar of Companies showed.
Ather Energy counts the likes of Tiger Global and Singaporean Sovereign Wealth Fund GIC among its investors, according to data from Tracxn.Hero and Ather have also been closely collaborating, with Hero MotoCorp saying it has signed an agreement with Ather Energy to create an interoperable fast-charging network for two-wheelers in India.Ather’s losses widened by over two-and-a-half times year on year to Rs 864.5 crore in FY23. The firm’s revenue from operations had grown 4.3 times to reach Rs 1,784 crore during the period.Hero’s investment in Ather comes when Ola Electric, the leader in the electric two-wheeler market, is planning to go public.
Ather Energy’s new fundraising comes after it postponed funding plans last year citing poor market conditions. Instead, it raised Rs 900 crore in September 2023 from Hero MotoCorp and GIC through a rights issue.
On April 6, Ather Energy launched a new range of ‘Rizta’ scooters targeting the family segment. The firm, which has a total production capacity of 450,000 scooters per year, said it would expand production from the current 150,000 vehicles it makes per year after the Rizta hits the market.
