Raptee raises $3M in Pre-Series A funding led by Bluehill Capital

Raptee, an electric motorcycle startup based in India, has raised $3 million in Pre-Series A funding led by deep-tech VC fund Bluehill Capital. The funds will be utilized for augmenting the manufacturing facility, acquiring machinery, tooling for the upcoming vehicle, as well as bolstering the team. Raptee is also planning to launch two experience centers in Chennai and Bangalore and expand its markets to 8 cities in India within the first year.

This all-equity funding round saw the participation of Mr Eugene Mayne, Founder and CEO of Tristar Global (UAE); Mr Lakshmi Narayanan, Former CEO of Cognizant; Mr Ramesh Kannan, Managing Director, Kaynes Technology; Mr Chandu Nair, Director, Shankara Building Products and other HNIs from India and the UAE.

Raptee received a grant from ARAI(Automotive Research Association of India), the certifying authority for automobiles in India, to develop a high-voltage powertrain for its electric motorcycle. The motorcycle is expected to debut in early 2024.

Raptee has initiated R&D for the next line of products and is planning to expand the team size to 150 in line with the business plan. Raptee’s progress has also been noticed by the Tamil Nadu Government, which has subsequently allocated a 36-acre property for the company along with other incentives for scaling up manufacturing.

Dinesh Arjun, Co-founder and 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 EVs are a true upgrade from ICE vehicles. We are extremely fortunate to be backed by investors from the manufacturing and transportation industries who understand long-term value creation and can add strategic value for us as we gear up for production and scale up. This being our first institutional round, we’re also proud to be backed by a DeepTech VC, Bluehill Capital. We’ve been refining and testing our vehicles, and the results are very promising. 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. We believe Raptee’s motorcycles will change the face of EV 2-wheelers in India,”

Raptee has grown its team to over 50 people in the last 12 months. The company has onboarded some of the most reputed suppliers for motorcycle components and senior leadership talent from the industry. Raptee has set up its first factory in Chennai, which will have an annual capacity of 100,000 units and will serve as the primary production plant for Raptee for the next 24 months. The research and development center will have state-of-the-art facilities for developing and testing new products, while the manufacturing plant will have a dedicated line for assembling battery packs. The proposed investment for this factory is Rs 80 crore. The company plans to explore few conducive International markets over the next 3 years.

Also Read: Electric motorcycle start up Raptee opens its first manufacturing plant in Chennai