India-based electric vehicle developer Ather Energy has procured Rs840m ($11.2m) in a series C extension from motorcycle maker Hero MotorCorp to bring the round to $62.2m, the Economic Times reported on Friday.
Ather previously disclosed $51m in series C funding in May 2019 led by angel investor Sachin Bansal with a $32m commitment, while Hero MotoCorp invested $19m in convertible debt financing – first reported in mid-2018 – and venture debt firm Innoven Capital supplied $8m.
Founded in 2013, Ather produces an electric scooter called 450X that has a range of up to 75km per charge and uses a touchscreen as a dashboard. Drivers can connect their bike to a mobile app to gain insights such as battery status and to book a service.
The additional series C capital will support Ather’s plans to expand into 20 cities across India by the end of the year and to build a manufacturing facility in Tamil Nadu. The company expects to increase its manufacturing capacity to 100,000 scooters annually.
Hero previously committed $31m of funding to Ather in 2016, adding to $12m in capital from Tiger Global Management in 2015 and $1m in equity financing from private investors Binny Bansal and Raju Venkatraman in 2014.
