Ather enters unicorn lane with $71 million from govt’s NIIF

Electric scooter maker Ather Energy has cruised into the unicorn league after closing a Rs 600-crore ($71 million) funding from existing investor National Investment and Infrastructure Fund (NIIF), multiple people briefed on the matter said. Post the funding, Ather has been valued at $1.3 billion, or about Rs 10,900 crore, they said.

It is the country’s fourth unicorn this year and second in the mobility space after Rapido, which closed a $120-million funding from WestBridge Capital at a post-money valuation of $1 billion, as ET reported on July 29.

NIIF, the Indian sovereign wealth fund, first invested in Ather in May 2022. The electric scooter maker was last valued at around $740-750 million in 2022, but Hero MotoCorp – its largest backer with a 40% shareholding – had invested Rs 124 crore into the firm in a secondary transaction in June at an inferred valuation of $671 million (Rs 5,636 crore).