Founders of the Indian e-commerce giant Flipkart have invested $ 1 million (approx. INR 6.1 Cr) in Electric Vehicle start-up company Ather. Apart from the Bansals Raju Venkatraman, a serial entrepreneur and CEO of Medall Healthcare Pvt. Ltd also took part in the investment round. Medall Healthcare runs a diagnostic chain in the country.
Ather was founded by Tarun Mehta and Swapnil Jain and incubated at IIT Madras. The company had previously raised first round of funding from V Srinivas (Founder, Aerospike) and the Technology Development Board, Government of India.
The start-up has already built a prototype of their first e-scooter Ather S340 and plans to invest the funds for developing it which is expected to be out in 2015. In their official website, Ather claims that their E-scooter gives a top speed of 75kmph and can reach 0-60 in 11 seconds. The E-scooter is expected to have a longer battery life that can go upto 50,000km and will weighing just about 15kg.
Bangalore-based Sachin, Mukesh and Binny Bansal have already invested in startups such as Zopnow and NewsInShorts in recent past.
“We are very excited about this fresh round of funding. Sachin and Binny Bansal are leaders who have put India’s e-commerce industry on the global map through disruptive use of technology. Their focus on technology and reinvention aligns with that of Ather,” said Tarun Mehta.
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