TVS Motor Company makes fresh investment in electric bike startup Ultraviolette

TVS Motor Company has made fresh investment in the electric bike maker Ultraviolette in the latest round of Series C funding. The two-wheeler major, which has been an early backer of Ultraviolette, was joined by Zoho Corporation in the funding round.

Through the financial investment, TVS aims to support Ultraviolette's vision of developing high performance mobility solutions for the Indian and global markets, the company said in a regulatory filing. "EVs are a huge focus area for us and we have invested in this area for over a decade. We have always believed that EV development has to be ground-up for us to make that quantum leap into the global EV revolution," said the company's Joint Managing Director Sudarshan Venu.

EV startup Ultraviolette will utilise the funding proceedings towards the production and launch of its high-performance electric motorcycle, called F77, which was also set on display at the Auto Expo 2020. The company has plans to roll out the first batch of motorcycles in the first half of 2022. "This investment from TVS Motor Company and ZOHO Corp. is a validation of the company's endeavour to redefine the future of mobility," said Ultraviolette's founder and CEO Narayan Subramaniam.

The electric bike maker is currently setting up its manufacturing and assembling facility in the Electronics City, Bengaluru. The facility will be spread over 70,000 square feet and will be capable of churning out 15,000 EVs in the first year. It will see the annual capacity ramping up to 1.2 lakh units in the following years. The F77 will be built indigenously with over 90% of the vehicle being manufactured using locally sourced components.

Ultraviolette's new plant will provide job opportunities to local communities within the region and will train more than 500 employees on assembly and manufacturing of EVs in the span of next five years.

(with inputs from PTI)