"The journey of F77 has been inspired by automotive and aerospace expertise in software'

Ultraviolette Automotive plans to raise US$120 million for its global expansion plans and to support its ongoing vehicle platform development, writes Amit Vijay M.

- Amit Vijay M

THE LARGER PLAN for Ultraviolette is to raise US$120 million by end of FY2024 to help scale up the business over three to five years. The EV maker has raised over US$55 million since inception in 2016 and its previous financing rounds have seen participation from leading investment companies including Europe's EXOR Capital, US-based Qualcomm Ventures, TVS Motor Company, Zoho Corp, Gofrugal Technologies, and Speciale Invest.

Till 2022, the company has received US$15 million Series C Funding from TVS Motor Company and Zoho Corporation besides capital from several private investors.

Meanwhile, bookings for the F77 electric motorcycle began in October 2022, and till date the F77 has received over 70,000 pre-launch booking interests from 190 countries. Bookings have started in Bengaluru. The bike maker plans to sell 15,000 units in the first year of operations to max out its 1,20,000 unit installed capacity by mid-2024. In an interview with Autocar Professional, Narayan Subramaniam (NS) and Niraj Rajmohan (NR) talk about the F77's journey so far.

At Rs 4.55 lakh for a top-spec bike, don't you think the pricing is very steep considering you will also miss the subsidy bus and not have the mass market option?

NR: We have built this bike specifically targeting the performance biking market which no one in the country thought could be addressed. This is due to the inherent challenges with an e-motorcycle and why even some of the legacy players have given this segment a miss.

That's where we accepted the challenge and have aced every aspect of an ICE motorcycle including pure riding pleasure, the ability to cruise at high speeds for longer distances and not worry about the range.

How long did it take from concept to reality for the F77?