EV maker Ather Energy drops its plans to become a new unicorn: Report

EV maker Ather Energy, which competes with Ola Electric, Hero Electric, and TVS, has reportedly dropped its plans to raise $250 million or approximately Rs 2,000 crore due to the ongoing funding winter and slowing EV sales.

According to The Arc report, the round could have valued Ather at $1.3 billion, making it a new unicorn in the EV segment.

The report added that Ather is expected to seek far less than $250 million from current backers through the right issue at a flat or lower valuation. The report said the transaction would increase Ather founders Tarun Mehta and Swapnil Jain's shareholding from about 12.5%.

According to Tracxn, Tarun Mehta, Swapnil Jain, and Arun Vinayak collectively hold 12.5% of Ather, while shareholders own the rest. HeroMotoCorp is the single largest shareholder in Ather with 34.2% holding, followed by Caladium Investment at 10.3% and Tiger Global at 9.7%.

Earlier in February this year, It was reported that the EV maker is engaging with new and existing backers to raise around $250 million, with a significant secondary component, to achieve a post-money valuation of $1.3 billion.

Ather was last near to achieving unicorn status after it raised $50 million in funding from existing investor Caladium at $700-800 million.

So far, the company has raised over $340 million in funding from Herald Ventures, InnoVen Capital, NIIF, HeroMotoCorp, and Sachin Bansal, among others.

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