Chennai-based EV motorcycle startup, Raptee, has raised $3 million in a pre-series A round led by deep-tech VC fund Bluehill Capital.
Bluehill Capital is an early-stage VC fund which has been investing actively in the clean-tech, sustainability, hardware-tech, industrial-tech and deep-tech spaces.
The all-equity funding round saw participation from Eugene Mayne, Founder and CEO of Tristar Global (UAE); Lakshmi Narayanan, Former CEO Cognizant; Ramesh Kannan, Managing Director, Kaynes Technology; Chandu Nair, Director, Shankara Building Products and other HNIs from India and the UAE.
The funds will be allocated towards augmenting the manufacturing facility, acquiring machinery, tooling for the soon to be launched motorcycle, and to scale up the team.
Dinesh Arjun, Co-founder CEO, Raptee, said, “India is the largest motorcycle market in the world, with EV adoption on the rise. At Raptee, we want to launch a motorcycle in a mid-premium segment for consumers who believe that EVs are a true upgrade from ICE vehicles. We have been refining and testing our vehicles. We are looking forward to launching it very soon.”
Manu Iyer, CEO & Partner, Bluehill Capital, said, “Having evaluated over 30 EV OEMs in India and having invested deeply in the EV and clean-tech ecosystem in India, we are impressed by Raptee’s cutting edge tech and excited to partner with them on their journey.”
Raptee, which began its journey in 2019, was founded by four engineers from Chennai (Ex Tesla, Wipro, Royal Enfield). Raptee is a full stack electric motorcycle manufacturer with a strong technological moat that has been developed indigenously. The first motorcycle is expected to debut in early 2024, with two experience centres in Chennai and Bangalore.
The startup has set up its first factory in Chennai, spread across 3 acres, which will house a majority of Raptee’s Research and Development team. It will have an annual capacity of 1,00,000 units and will serve as the primary production plant for Raptee for the next 24 months.
