Tiger Global reportedly invested ₹ 75.23 crore in Ather Energy in 2015 and exited in 2025 after selling its stake for around ₹ 1,216.8 crore — translating to approximately a 16.2× return.
According to reports, the firm’s initial investment acquired around 74,732 Series A preference shares at ₹ 10,067.4 per share; after bonus shares and conversion, this equated to about 1.95 crore equity shares at a cost of approx. ₹ 38.57 each.
The exit was executed via open market sales totaling roughly ₹ 1,204 crore for the remaining stake.
Why This Exit Matters
- High‐multiple return: A 16.2× return is rare in venture/early growth investments in India, especially for an EV startup.
- Signals maturity: Ather’s journey from early‐stage funding to listing or major liquidity event allows early backers like Tiger Global to exit, showing maturation of the Indian EV startup ecosystem.
- Benchmark for investors: This exit provides a proof point for investors looking at deep tech or EV space in India — success stories help attract capital.
- Portfolio strategy insight: For Tiger Global, this marks one of its most lucrative India bets; it may influence how global funds allocate to Indian growth companies
- Sector boost: For the EV industry in India, such exits boost confidence among entrepreneurs, investors, and ecosystem players.
Key Details of the Investment & Exit
- Initial investment: ~₹ 75.23 crore in 2015 during Series A.
- Shares held: ~74,732 preference shares originally; after bonus shares and conversion, ~1.95 crore equity shares
- Exit proceeds: Approx. ₹ 1,216.8 crore total (including earlier partial sale + open market exit).
- Return multiple: 16.2× the capital invested.
- Time horizon: Roughly a 10-year holding period (2015 → 2025).
Implications & Considerations
- For Tiger Global: The exit frees up capital, proves their India strategy in EV/clean mobility, enhances credibility.
- For Ather Energy: Having early investors exit at high multiples can be positive (signal of success) but also raises expectations for future performance.
- For other investors/startups: Shows that patient capital can yield big returns in India’s growth sectors—but time horizon, execution risk remain high.
- Sector risk: While this is a success story, not all startups may replicate such outcomes — investors should remain cautious about generalising.
- Valuation context: A 16.2× multiple over ~10 years corresponds to a compound annual growth rate (~30% + per annum) which is strong; but sustainability of that growth going forward is another question.
What to Watch Next
- Whether Ather Energy can deliver on its growth, profitability and scale to justify such early-investor returns and keep investor confidence strong.
- How other early backers of Indian EV companies might follow suit—will we see more large exits?
- Whether Tiger Global redeploys proceeds into new growth bets in India or shifts strategy.
- How this exit influences valuations of peer EV and mobility startups in India.
Conclusion
Tiger Global’s exit from Ather Energy, delivering a ~16.2× return on its initial investment of ~₹ 75 crore, stands out as a standout success in India’s startup and EV ecosystem. It underscores the high-reward potential for early investors in emerging sectors—but also the patience, risk and execution required. As the EV space continues to mature in India, this case will likely be cited as a benchmark for what growth, scale and liquidity can look like.
