IIT Madras graduates have disrupted India’s EV market with their $800 million company.
Tarun Mehta and Swapnil Jain, both alumni of IIT Madras, are the brains behind Ather Energy – an electric vehicle startup located in Bengaluru. The duo started the company in 2013 with a strong conviction that the future belongs to electric vehicles. Today, their company is worth a whopping $800 million.
Mehta, who graduated from IIT Madras with a Dual Degree in Engineering Design, began his career as a Deputy Manager at Ashok Leyland. Later, he ventured into entrepreneurship. While in college, Mehta interned at Mercedes Benz and BHEL.
Jain, who also graduated from IIT Madras, completed his integrated Master of Technology in Engineering Design. He worked briefly as an intern at General Motors and BHEL before joining forces with his college friend Mehta to establish Ather. The two of them are at the forefront of India’s shift towards sustainable transportation.
Mehta and Jain have transformed the electric scooter industry in India. Despite having a sleek prototype prepared two years before their planned launch, Ather Energy chose to design and engineer the scooter from scratch, which delayed progress. According to Jain, finding people with enough experience in new product development or electric vehicles was also a challenge. However, the company has made significant progress, including building a strong team, and is currently valued at almost 800 million dollars.
As per the CEO of Ather Energy, Mehta, the company has raised approximately $170-180 million until now, and the latest funding round in October valued the company at around $800 million. In January, Ather Energy had already made revenue of over Rs 2,000 crore (equivalent to $300 million) and is expected to reach the $1 billion revenue mark by the end of 2023.
