Electric vehicle startup Ather gets seed capital from Flipkart founders

Electric vehicle startup Ather Energy has raised seed funding from Flipkart founders Sachin and Binny Bansal, the company said on Tuesday.

 The IIT-Madras incubated firm has been focussed on designing high-speed electric two-wheelers for the Indian market. The company is set to test the first prototypes of its electric scooter in Chennai and Bengaluru soon.

Ather has said that the scooter will require only a 1-hour charge to be up and running. The company has not specified the mileage for the vehicle. It is understood that the vehicle will be priced in the region of Rs 85,000.

The funding round also includes investment from Raju Venkatraman, serial entrepreneur and CEO of MEDALL. Ather was started by Tarun Mehta and Swapnil Jain in 2013 with a mission to accelerate the adoption of electrical vehicles in India.

This round of funding will be primarily used for product development for a lithium battery-powered vehicle rollout expected in 2015.

Earlier, Ather raised their first round of capital in February this year from V Srinivas (Founder, Aerospike) and the Technology Development Board, Government of India.

Co-founder Tarun Mehta said in a statement on financial website Indiainfoline.com, “Electric vehicles are at a very nascent stage in India and our aim is to develop and introduce efficient electric scooters which will benefit the country and help manage its resources more effectively. We are extremely confident about this product and this funding is a reinforcement of our belief.”

Currently, Ather is engaged in full-vehicle design and testing. The initial performance validation is over and manufacturing partners are currently being brought on board.