Ather Startup Story – The Electric Future of Transportation

Electric vehicles (EVs) are the new future. There’s no denying that the current situation of the environment is severely poor and burning excess fossil fuels are not helping us in any way. Ather is one such company that came up up with a solution to deal with this serious problem in our society. It is currently the most famous EV manufacturing companyn India and they are constantly proving to be better for both environment and public health. The company aims of changing the general perception of people around EVs by making vehicles smart, high-performance and zero-maintenance. So let us get into this article to read the success story of this amazing company that is helping us in many ways.

Ather – Key Highlights

• Company Name – Ather Energy
• Funding Year – 2013
• Headquarters – Bangalore, Karnataka, India
• Fiudners – Tarun Mehta, Swapnil Jain
• Area Served – India
• CEO – Tarun Mehta
• Industry – Automotive EVs
• Type of Company – Private
• Total Funding - $286.8 M
• Revenue - $10.72 M
• Website – www.atherenergy.com

Ather – Founders and Team

• Tarun Mehta – Tarun is the CEO and co-founder of the company. He holds a dual degree in Engineering Design from IIT Madras. Tarun has worked with companies like Mercedes Benz, Ashok Leyland, and BHEL.
• Swapnil Jain – Swapnil is the another co-founder of the company. He also holds a degree in Master of Technology in Engineering Design from IIT Madras. Before founding Ather, Jain used to work with BHEL and General Motors.

Ather – Brand Name, Logo, and Tagline

• Brand Name – The brand name of the company is very unique and it will be easy for its customers to remember as well.
• Logo – The logo of the company is beautiful and simplistic. The line represents the start and the dot represents the stop. Their logo on the whole means that every electrical circuit is different, except for the start and stop feature.
• Tagline – The company's tagline is – All Brain. All Power. All Electric.

Ather Energy – Business Model

The company works on an online-only purchase model. They have a manufacturing unit in Whitefield, Bangalore that manufactures 600 vehicles/ week.

The price of the scooters is as follows:

• Ather 450 – INR 1,35,000
• Ather 450X – INR 1,38,006

They will also come up with EV charging infrastructure in various cities. They already have over 14 charging points in Chennai and 38 fast-charging points in Bangalore.

Other – Revenue

The company’s revenue stands somewhere between $10 - $15 million.

Ather – Growth

Some of the major growth factors seen by the company are as follows:

• Ather is one of the most valuable companies in the EV market.
• They have already sold more than 4000 units.
• Their revenue increased by 126% in FY 2020.
• Ather haws recorded a growth of 8 times.
• The company has also seen a growth in after-sales service segment.
• The company will reportedly double its revenue by the end of FY 2023.

Ather Energy – Partnerships

Some of the major partnerships of the company are as follows:

• BLive – Strategic partner of Ather (They will promote EV adoption at various tourist destinations), Aug 24, 2021
• Kerala Blasters – Official Partner, Oct 2021

Ather Energy – Funding and Investors

Ather has raised a total funding of $338.9 million in the past few years. Details of all the funding and investors of the company are as follows:

• $1 M – Seed Round, Dec 3, 2014
• $12 M – Series A Round, Tiger Global Management, May 29, 2015
• $27 M – Series A Round, Hero MotoCorp Ltd, Oct 27, 2016
• $51 M – Series C Round, Sachin Bansal, May 28, 2019
• $11.2 M – Series C Round, Hero MotoCorp Ltd, Jul 24, 2020
• $35 M – Series D Round, Sachin Bansal, Nov 7, 2020
• $17.24 M – Series E Round, Hero MotoCorp Ltd, Oct 10, 2021
• $56.46 M – Hero MotoCorp, Jan 15, 2022
• $128 M – Series E Round, NIIF Ltd. and Hero MotoCorp, May 12, 2022

Ather Energy – Awards and Achievements

Ather has won several awards and achievements for its outstanding work in this industry. Some of the major awards won by the company are as follows:

• The Economic Times Startup Award – By The Economics Times, 2016
• Most Promising Startup Impacting Automotive – By IoT Next, 2016
• India Electric Mobility Technology Innovative Leader Award – By Frost & Sullivan, 2016

Ather Energy – Challenges Faced

Ather has also faced various challenges in its entrepreneurial journey, just like any other startup. Some of the major challenges faced by the company are as follows:

• No local ecosystem – The company’s biggest challenge was that there was no local ecosystem present. This doesn’t only include talents but also vendors and various other things. They are the sole manufacturer & distributor of EVs, batteries, and various other accessories, and hence they need to test all those products. Ather completely missed out on these things in the initial phase of their journey.
• Delivery Process – Ather is dealing with a hardware product and it is not completely viable to ship their EVs. This issue resulted in the growth of the company. But Ather is constantly working on the proper delivery of EVs and they are this improvement in the delivery process will also help in fastening the growth.
• Competitors – Ather is one of the leading players in the market. But it still has a long way to go and it has many competitors in the market. Now various MNCs are also stepping into the market of electric transport and thus it would be even more difficult for the company to gather their trusted customers. Ather has various competitors like Ola Electric, TVS, Bajaj Auto, Okinawa Scooters, Pure EV etc.
• Attract Customers – It is not going to be easy for the company to attract customers the idea of using petrol/ diesel vehicles is deeply embedded in most people. Making their customers accept this change without compromising their comfort is a clear challenge for the company. Ather still has a long way to go when it comes to persuading customers to buy their products.

Ather Energy – Future Plans

Ather is a relatively new company and it still has a long way to go. Some of the major upcoming plans of the company are as follows:

• Ather is constantly working on delivering its scooters and making its whole delivery process smooth and perfect.
• They are also finding new talents in the market that will help in the growth of the company.
• The company will also hire more employees in the coming future.
• Ather is also looking for perfect partnerships with various other companies.
• They are working on not making it a boring company for the customers.
• The company is bringing world-class innovation and hardware for their products. This will keep the excitement alive amongst the customers.
• They have already started working on the development of a new vehicle platform which is going to be ready soon.
• The company will manufacture more than 35,000 scooters by the end of FY 2023 and 1 million by the end of FY 2024.
• Ather is aiming to sell around 50,000 EVs by the end of next year.