Electric motorcycle startup Raptee has raised $3 million in a pre-series A round led by deep-tech VC fund Bluehill Capital. The all-equity funding round saw participation from industry stalwarts including Eugene Mayne, founder-CEO of Tristar Global (UAE), Lakshmi Narayanan, former CEO Cognizant, Ramesh Kannan, MD, 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,” said the company in a statement.

Earlier in March, Raptee received a grant from ARAI (Automotive Research Association of India), the certifying authority for automobiles in India, towards the design and development of the high voltage powertrain. The first motorcycle is expected to debut in early 2024, with two experience centres in Chennai and Bangalore, subsequently expanding to eight more cities by the end of the first year. “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", the company in a statement. The Tamil Nadu government has allocated a 36 acres property for the company along with other incentives for scaling up manufacturing.

Dinesh Arjun, co-founder CEO, Raptee, said, “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 are 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 Bluehill Capital".

Manu Iyer, CEO & partner, Bluehill Capital, said, “We strongly share the vision of the Raptee team to build world-class core EV technology right here in Chennai, India in a focused and cost-effective manner. Dinesh and his co-founders have diligently built the vehicle platform indigenously with intellectual property on various aspects of the vehicle sub-system. We are impressed by Raptee’s cutting edge tech and excited to partner with them on their journey".

Raptee’s team size is now over 50. Recently, the former head of business of Royal Enfield Jayapradeep V joined Raptee as chief business officer. Raptee has set up its first factory in Chennai, spread across three acres, which will house a majority of Raptee’s Research and Development team. It will have an annual capacity of 100,000 units and will serve as the primary production plant for Raptee for the next 24 months.