Electric scooter-maker Ather Energy has joined the unicorn club after raising ₹600 crores ($71 million) from the Indian sovereign wealth fund, National Investment and Infrastructure Fund (NIIF), The Economic Times reported, citing people aware of the fundraising.
Bengaluru-based Ather is the fourth startup this year to become a unicorn firm with a valuation of $1 billion or more.
The e-scooter maker was last valued at $750 million in 2022. However, Hero MotoCorp, its largest shareholder with a 40% stake, invested ₹124 crore in a secondary transaction in June at an inferred valuation of $671 million (about ₹5,635 crore).
The company is gearing up for an initial public offer (IPO) that, depending on market conditions, could happen as soon as the second half of the year.
Tarun Mehta and Swapnil Jain, who graduated from the Indian Institute of Technology-Madras, founded the electric scooter maker in 2013.
The company last raised about $128 million in a series E round in 2022, including from NIIF and other existing shareholders such as two-wheeler maker Hero MotoCorp.
Other investors in the startup include Flipkart co-founders Sachin Bansal and Binny Bansal, as well as Tiger Global Management.
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