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Went to IIT Madras, rejected by 80 VCs and built a 22,150 CR company. 1. Tarun Mehta was pursuing a dual degree program in Engineering Design at IIT Madras. But, since business was in his Marwari blood, he partnered up with his batchmate (Swapnil) to create a Stirling engine to provide low-cost power to villages, but failed. 👇🏻 2. He joined Ashok Leyland as a deputy manager. During his time there, he saw that India was selling 50,000 electric scooters yearly but had no choice apart from cheap Chinese kits. He wanted to solve this. 🤔 3. After speaking to users and mechanics, he realised that battery packs were the biggest failure point in EVs. He wanted to build an advanced lithium-ion battery pack and left his job. In 2013, he started the company with Swapnil. Ather Energy was born. 🚀 4. He started working at IIT Madras's RTBI incubator, and realised the problem with Indian EVs was deeper - poor design, no charging infrastructure, and zero software integration. Solving for battery was not the only answer. 🤔 5. He decided to build the entire scooter end-to-end. But that meant competing against TVS, Hero and Bajaj. More than 80 VCs had rejected him, but Tarun developed the prototype of a 20% lighter scooter than others. In 2014, he finally raised 6.9 CR led by the Flipkart boys, Sachin and Binny Bansal. 💰 6. He started developing India's first smart electric scooter, Ather S340. With a range of 60 km and a top speed of 60 km, it was gearing up for launch next year. And then, none other than Hero MotoCorp invested 180 CR in October 2016. It was the biggest Indian EV investment at that time. ✅ 7. Everybody thought 2017 was Ather's year, but it wasn't. Their first assembly facility and the Ather charging grid in Bangalore were still not established. Tarun had to innovate and launched the upgraded version, the Ather 450, in 2018, featuring a 7-inch touchscreen, a 75 km true range, and a top speed of 80 km. ⚡️ 8. In 2020, Ather had sold 2972 units, which made them the 4th largest by volume. And competition came down knocking - Bajaj (Chetak EV), TVS (iQube) and the final blow was Ola Electric in 2021. Everybody said Ather was over, but Tarun had a plan. 👇🏻 9. He slowed the growth and focused on OTA updates, strong customer service, Ather Space experience centres and a 1000+ fast charging network in 100 cities. In 2022, it raised 1044 CR led by NIIF and became a 3670 CR company. 📈 10. It sold 104,443 scooters in 2023 and took the 3rd spot after Ola and TVS. As its new family scooter, Rizta contributed 60% of its 1750 CR revenue, the big news came. 👇🏻 In August 2024, Ather raised another 600 CR led by NIIF and became the fifth unicorn of 2024, valued at 8220 CR. 🦄 11. Today, Ather Energy clocks 1,789 CR in revenue with 350 experience centres, 2,500 fast chargers, and over 400,000 scooters sold. It is valued at 22,150 CR after it listed with a 2982 CR IPO. 💪 ➡️Tarun Mehta rose like a phoenix from the ashes! 🙏