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Electric bike startup Ultraviolette gets fresh funding from TVS Motor

Electric bike startup Ultraviolette gets fresh funding from TVS Motor
A concept model of the electric bike.
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Electric bike maker Ultraviolette Automotive Pvt. Ltd said on Monday it has received an additional investment of Rs 6 crore (about $860,000) from TVS Motor Company Ltd as part of its Series A round.

The company will deploy the additional investment for continued product engineering and expansion of research and development team and facility, it said in a statement.

“With this investment, we are looking to ramp up the development of high-end electric powertrains, battery modules and connected technology,” said Niraj Rajmohan, founder and CTO, Ultraviolette.

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TVS Motor’s stake in the company has risen to 25.76% after this investment, according to a stock-exchange filing. TVS had earlier invested Rs 5 crore in Ultraviolette in December 2017 for a 14.78% stake.

Bengaluru-based Ultraviolette is building an electric motorcycle that it claims will outperform traditional bikes in the 200-250cc segment.

“Ultraviolette has made significant progress in their product engineering in a short span of time,” said K. Gopaladesikan, chief financial officer at TVS Motor.

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Incorporated in December 2015, Ultraviolette was founded by Narayan Subramaniam and Niraj Rajmohan.

TVS Motor’s bigger rival Hero MotoCorp Ltd holds a stake in electric two-wheeler startup Ather Energy.

Last month, Hero MotoCorp decided to invest Rs 130 crore ($19 million) more in Ather Energy. The two-wheeler maker had first invested Rs 205 crore in Ather Energy in 2016.

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A number of other startups have also forayed into the segment and raised funding from angel investors.

Electric bike maker Ampere Vehicles Pvt. Ltd had raised funding from Infosys co-founder Kris Gopalakrishnan and Ratan Tata, chairman emeritus at Tata Sons.

Tork Motorcycles, which is building an electric motorcycle, had raised angel funding from Bhavish Aggarwal and Ankit Bhati, co-founders of cab aggregator Ola.

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Bengaluru-based Emflux Motors Pvt. Ltd had secured angel funding to make what it touts as India’s first electric sports bike.


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