An IIT-IIM alumni who developed a Rs. 6640 crore company and received Rs. 900 crore from Hero MotoCorp gets paid barely Rs

Tarun Mehta and Swapnil Jain are the founders of Ather Energy, an electric vehicle (EV) firm based in Bengaluru. The two friends created Ather Energy in 2013 after graduating from the Indian Institute of Technology Madras, certain that “electric vehicles were inevitable.” Their company is presently valued at an incredible $800 million.

Mehta obtained a dual degree in engineering design from IIT Madras and began working for Ashok Leyland as a deputy manager. He then launched his own company. Mehta interned at Mercedes-Benz and BHEL when she was a college student.

Jain earned a Master of Technology in Engineering Design that was integrated. He is a graduate of IIT Madras as well. He briefly interned at BHEL and General Motors before starting Ather with his college buddy Mehta. Together, they are spearheading India’s transition to greener modes of transportation.

Mehta and Jain have brought about a transformation in the electric scooter business. Despite having a sleek prototype ready as much as two years before they planned to release their first scooter, the company decided to start the scooter’s engineering and design from scratch, which resulted in delays. According to Jain, it was hard to locate personnel with sufficient expertise creating new goods or electric vehicles. Still, the company has come a long way, assembled a strong staff, and is now estimated to be worth around $850 million.

In September 2023, Ather secured investment of Rs 900 crore ($108 million) from GIC, a Singaporean sovereign wealth fund, and Hero MotoCorp, a leading manufacturer of two-wheelers. As part of the deal, Hero MotoCorp committed to investing Rs 550 crore in Ather.

Ather received $128 million at a $750 million value in its Series E financing in May 2022. However, it was unable to determine the company’s most recent worth.

According to Ather Energy’s CEO Mehta, the firm has received between $170 and $180 million in total to far. The business was valued at around $800 million after the most recent funding round in October. After generating over Rs 2,000 crore ($300 million) in sales in January, Ather Energy is predicted to achieve $1 billion in revenue by the end of 2023.

The Founder Remuneration Tracker FY23 of Inc42 indicates that Tarun Mehta and Swapnil Jain would get an annual salary of Rs 2 crore in 2023.