Nikhil Kamath of Zerodha purchases a sizable portion of Sachin Bansal’s stake in Ather Energy, calling it “among the largest bets.”

People acquainted with the situation have said that Ather Energy, an electric two-wheeler maker, is now in talks to close a large fundraising round by selling both main and secondary shares.
The originator of Flipkart and current investor in Ather Energy, Sachin Bansal, has sold a sizeable amount of his ownership to Nikhil Kamath, the cofounder of Zerodha, according to sources who spoke with ET.

“This will be among the largest bets that I have made among my private equity investments,” Nikhil Kamath told the Financial Daily, confirming his investment. I really think the product works, and over the next ten years, I want to be exposed to Ather a lot.”

According to the sources, Ather Energy is now finalizing preparations to seek primary capital from its existing investors in the range of $75 million to $90 million, or around Rs 750 crore. This development demonstrates the increasing interest that investors have in the firm and the mobility industry. Additionally, the business is contacting possible new investors.

Does Sachin Bansal intend to leave Ather Energy?
“The primary funding round construct is yet to be finalized but it is likely to be around $75–90 million in total,” said one of the people who requested to remain anonymous.

A current investor may lead the investment round, valuing Ather Energy between $850 million and $1 billion, according to sources familiar with the situation. The firm will become one of the unicorns—startups valued at $1 billion or more—if it is able to get primary financing at a $1 billion valuation.
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Bansal, the original angel investor in Ather Energy, retained a 10.7% ownership position in the business, according on Tracxn statistics. In investments, he has made contributions of almost Rs 400 crore since 2014. Binny Bansal, a co-founder of Flipkart, also owns 1% of the business.

Ather Energy’s latest fundraising campaign comes after it had to postpone its financing ambitions last year because of adverse market circumstances. Rather, the business used a rights offering from Hero MotoCorp and GIC to obtain Rs 900 crore in September 2023. HeroMotoCorp invested an extra Rs 140 crore in December, bringing its shareholding to 39.7%.

A new line of ‘Rizta’ scooters targeted at the family market was unveiled by Ather Energy on April 6. After the Rizta is introduced to the market, the business intends to increase its present output of 150,000 cars annually to a total of 450,000 scooters annually.