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Ather Energy

Electric Vehicles (EV)Founded 2013
Reviewed by Swet Parvadiya
Company data updated: September 2026

Founders

Who Founded Ather Energy?

Tarun Mehta, Swapnil Jain · Founded 2013 · HQ today: Bengaluru, Karnataka, India

Who founded Ather Energy?

Ather Energy was founded by Tarun Mehta, Swapnil Jain in 2013. It is now led by Tarun Mehta.

Founders
Tarun Mehta, Swapnil Jain
Founded
2013
Headquarters
Bengaluru, Karnataka, India
Number of founders
2
Current CEO
Tarun Mehta (since 2013)
Where was Ather Energy founded?
Ather Energy was founded in Bengaluru, India in 2013.
When was Ather Energy founded?
Ather Energy was founded in 2013.
Who started Ather Energy?
Ather Energy was founded by Tarun Mehta and Swapnil Jain.
How old is Ather Energy?
Ather Energy is 13 years old as of 2026.

Founding Story

Tarun Mehta and Swapnil Jain met studying engineering design at IIT Madras and worked on research projects together. After graduating in 2012 Mehta joined Ashok Leyland and Jain joined General Motors, but both kept returning to the same problem: the battery packs in India's electric scooters degraded quickly and were the weakest part of the vehicle. They quit in 2013, went back to IIT Madras and set out to build a pack worth selling to existing manufacturers. Touring assembly lines convinced them no incumbent wanted a serious electric vehicle, so they decided to build the whole scooter. Professor Krishna Kumar at IIT Madras drew them into starting a company, gave them the first few lakhs and space to work. In early 2014 the Technology Development Board, IIT Madras and angel investor Srini V. Srinivasan put in ~$52,200 (INR 4.5 million), and in December that year Flipkart founders Sachin and Binny Bansal invested USD 1 million.

Tarun Mehta

Background

Tarun Mehta graduated from IIT Madras in 2012 with a dual degree in engineering design, where he and Swapnil Jain worked on research projects together and became interested in why electric two-wheeler battery packs degraded so quickly. He joined Ashok Leyland after graduating and left in 2013 to work on packs full time.

Role at Ather Energy

Mehta co-founded Ather Energy in 2013 and has been chief executive throughout. He insisted on designing the battery pack, motor controller, chassis and vehicle software in house rather than assembling imported components, which delayed Ather's first commercial revenue to FY2019 but gave it a platform it could update over the air. He launched the Ather 450 alongside the company's own fast-charging network in 2018, widened the range with the Rizta in 2024 and the Konarc in 2026, and took Ather public on the NSE and BSE in May 2025. Tarun Mehta was born in 1989/1990.

Swapnil Jain

Co-founder 2013

Background

Swapnil Jain studied engineering design at IIT Madras and worked as an engineer at General Motors before co-founding Ather Energy in 2013. That mix of vehicle engineering and hands-on battery work shaped Ather's decision to design its own packs, motor controllers and chassis rather than source finished modules.

Role at Ather Energy

Swapnil Jain is co-founder, chief technology officer and an executive director of Ather Energy. He and Tarun Mehta met studying engineering design at IIT Madras and quit their jobs in 2013, Jain leaving General Motors, to work on electric two-wheeler battery packs. Jain owns vehicle architecture, battery and motor engineering and the AtherStack software platform, and has pushed Ather to develop its charging connector and motor technology in house. He told the Financial Express in 2025 that Ather would eliminate heavy rare earth elements from its motor magnets. Swapnil Jain was born in 1989/1990.

Ather Energy: CEO & Leadership History

Full timeline →

Tarun Mehta

Co-founder, Executive Director and CEO

2013 – Present

Mehta holds a dual degree in engineering design from IIT Madras (2012) and quit Ashok Leyland to work on battery packs before co-founding Ather with Swapnil Jain in 2013. Under him Ather sold 262,942 vehicles in FY2026 for ~$426M (INR 3,672 Cr) of revenue, cut its net loss to ~$60M (INR 517 Cr), and reported its first EBITDA-positive quarter in the three months to June 2026.

Keep researching Ather Energy

Who Founded Ather Energy? FAQ

Who founded Ather Energy and when?

Tarun Mehta and Swapnil Jain incorporated Ather Energy in Bengaluru in 2013. They met studying engineering design at IIT Madras and left jobs at Ashok Leyland and General Motors respectively to work on electric two-wheeler battery packs.

Where does the name Ather come from?

The name derives from aether, the classical term for the upper air and a supposed fifth element, chosen to suggest clean and emission-free energy.

What was Ather's first outside funding?

In early 2014 Ather received ~$52,200 (INR 4.5 million) from the Technology Development Board under the Department of Science and Technology, IIT Madras and angel investor Srini V. Srinivasan. In December 2014 Flipkart founders Sachin and Binny Bansal invested USD 1 million as seed capital.

Where did the founders build the first prototype?

Mehta and Jain returned to IIT Madras, where Professor Krishna Kumar gave them their first few lakhs of funding and space to work, and built their first proof-of-concept scooter, the S340, before moving corporate operations to Bengaluru.

Why did they build a new vehicle instead of converting a petrol scooter?

They set out to sell better battery packs to existing manufacturers, but found incumbents had little interest in serious electric engineering and that bolting packs onto petrol frames produced poor weight distribution and heat management. So they designed a clean-sheet vehicle with the pack low in the floorboard.

When did Tiger Global invest in Ather?

Tiger Global invested USD 12 million in May 2015 to fund development, testing, production tooling and the launch of Ather's first vehicle. It sold its remaining stake of about 5 percent for ~$140 million (INR 1,204 crore) in November 2025.

When did Hero MotoCorp first invest in Ather?

Hero MotoCorp invested ~$20.9 million (INR 180 crore) in the Series B round in October 2016, and a further ~$15.1 million (INR 130 crore) in 2018. It has since become Ather's largest shareholder.

What was the Ather S340?

The S340 was Ather's first scooter, shown as a concept in Bengaluru on 23 February 2016. It was never sold in that form: Ather went to market in 2018 with the refined Ather 450 and the entry-level 340, and discontinued the 340 in September 2019.

Who founded Ather Energy?

The company was founded by Tarun Mehta and Swapnil Jain, who secured massive early financial backing from Flipkart founders Sachin and Binny Bansal, and later Hero MotoCorp.

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Content is for informational purposes only. Not financial advice. Data sourced from SEC filings, annual reports, and public records. See our full disclaimer and methodology.