Electric motorcycle maker RapteeHV has begun the process to raise $15-20 million (approximately ₹140-190 crore) in a Series A round, according to two people familiar with the matter, as it looks to scale production and expand its retail footprint.
“The company is still pulling investors together, but existing investors are expected to put in a significant chunk of the money for the new round,” one of the persons said requesting anonymity as the discussions are private. “The company is hoping to close the round in the next three months but it could take longer.”
“The focus at the moment is for them to be able to ramp up production, given that they opened a showroom in Bengaluru just last month,” said the other person with knowledge of the discussions. “Their current facility in Chennai is capable of doing about 130-200 vehicles, which they want to be able to scale to reach around 300 by January next year.”
The new capital will also help RapteeHV expand its retail network, including stores in Kochin, Hyderabad, Pune and Gurgaon, the first person said.
Scaling up
RapteeHV had first raised $4 million in seed funding in 2023 from venture capital investors including Bluehill.VC, Artha99 and the Singhvi Heritage family office. The company has raised $15.9 million across various seed cheques so far, according to startup intelligence platform Tracxn. Its most recent raise included a $2.7 million investment from the Tamil Nadu Industrial Development Corporation (Tidco).
The startup is also talking to some larger original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) as part of its fundraising efforts, the first person said.
Legacy automakers have increasingly backed electric two-wheeler startups. Bajaj, TVS Motor and Hero MotoCorp have invested in Yulu, Ultraviolette and Ather Energy, respectively. Bajaj holds 12.4% in Yulu, TVS Motor 27.5% in Ultraviolette, while Hero MotoCorp continues to hold 30% in Ather Energy, according to Tracxn.
RapteeHV's planned Series A is relatively large for an early-stage electric motorcycle maker, as investors have largely favoured electric scooters, which have seen wider adoption in India. The motorcycle segment is also less crowded, with RapteeHV competing primarily with Ultraviolette, which launched an electric scooter last year, and Ola Electric.
RapteeHV's fundraise comes as investors are putting larger amounts of capital into electric-vehicle startups even as overall deal activity has slowed. EV startups raised $2.3 billion across 178 deals in 2023, when funding peaked, according to Tracxn. Last year, they raised $1.7 billion across 136 deals. So far this year, EV startups have raised $868 million across 64 deals.
Notable fundraises this year include mobility-as-a-service startup Yulu's $93 million mix of equity and debt from GEF Capital Partners and European debt funds. EV scooter maker River Mobility raised $120 million in a round led by Elev8 Venture Partners and Claypond Capital, with participation from Singularity AMC, Anicut Capital, 360 ONE Asset, JIF Capital and HDFC AMC. The round marked River's first capital infusion from domestic investors.