Axon Partners Group supported Ampere a Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu-based electric bike company. The Company has raised fresh funding from a group of angel investors including Infosys Co-Founder and former CEO Kris Gopalakrishnan, among others. It plans to use the raised funding to scale up operations and hire new talent. Going forward, Ampere will build an e-cycle factory completely operated by women in the next 3 years. The firm also wants to increase distribution print from the current four States to 10.
Axon Partners Group entered as the first investors in the Ampere Vehicles, participating in the Board of Directors after the investment, contributing in its development strategy. Axon’s stake was taken over by a large individual investor. Ampere has been part of the Axon Partners Group´s India Opportunity Fund I (IOF I) which is focused on supporting Indian SMEs in their international expansion due to its on-the-ground presence and experience in geographies such as Latin America, Europe and the U.S. The initial investment had a return of 1.16.
“The fund for India started in 2011 and we tried investing in companies that are looking to expand globally. Axon helped them grow to other markets like Spanish-speaking nations where Axon had a good traction. The electric vehicle segment in India remained underexplored in comparison to what it is globally. With the help of the Ampere´s electric vehicles the Company aims to provide a potential next-gen e-vehicle to help solve the growing pollution and related issues in India and then expand further to other countries in South-east Asia and the Middle East. The overall two-wheeler market in India is growing well and is expected to grow further aided by government support at the national and state level” commented Francisco Velazquez, CEO and Managing Partner at Axon Partners Group.
India has had a manufacturing and design eco-system for decades now and has a cost advantage compared to many other countries, from a design and testing perspective. There are a lot of things which are lining up – government support (Make in India), investor interest, access to talent etc.
Although hardware start-ups typically face higher upfront costs and longer development times but they, run the advantage of massive scalability (due to commoditization of a lot of hardware and massive manufacturing support in places like China) and significant real-value creation that is hard to wipe out even in the worst of times. That makes businesses with a focus on strong design, branding and IP very resilient.
Amperes offers eco-friendly and cost effective mobility solutions for daily business transportation needs. It moves on with the mission to be a part of the big revolution that electric bikes are going to bring about in the Indian market and economy.
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