Electric two-wheeler manufacturer Ather Energy has joined the sought-after unicorn club, following a successful $71 million (around ₹596 crore) funding round led by the National Investment and Infrastructure Fund (NIIF), multiple media outlets reported.

What Happened: The recent funding has catapulted Ather’s valuation to a whopping $1.3 billion (around ₹10,915 crore) making it one of the 106 unicorns in India.

The company has been on a fundraising spree since the end of 2023. In May this year, Ather raised ₹286 crore through a combination of debt and equity, primarily through venture debt and contributions from its co-founders.

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Stride Ventures, a venture debt firm, has pumped in close to ₹200 crore via debentures, while Ather’s co-founders Tarun Sanjay Mehta and Swapnil Jain have each contributed ₹43.28 crore through series F preference shares. In September last year, Hero MotoCorp, an existing shareholder, announced board approval to infuse ₹550 crore into Ather Energy.

The unicorn status comes at a time when Ather is gearing up to tap the public market by 2025. HSBC Holdings Plc, Nomura Holdings and JPMorgan Chase & Co have been selected to facilitate the IPO.

Ather Energy, established in 2013 by IIT Madras alumni Mehta and Jain, has sold over 1.73 lakh electric scooters till date and is backed by HeroMoto Corp, Tiger Global and GIC.

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