EV Startup Raptee Bags Funding From Technology Development Board

Electric motorcycle manufacturer Raptee.HV has received funding from the science and technology ministry’s Technology Development Board (TDB).

Without disclosing the funding amount, Raptee said it has become the first EV motorcycle OEM in the country to receive financing from the TDB. The startup said it would use the funding to advance its proprietary high-voltage technology for EVs.

Founded in 2021 by Dinesh Arjun, Keerthivasan Ravi, Karthikeyan Adhikesavan, and Phunith Kumar, Raptee sells electric motorcycles. Currently, it sells its T30 motorcycle at an ex-showroom price of INR 2.4 Lakh.

The startup claims that it has developed its EV bikes on the high-voltage technology platform which is used in electric cars. This provides the benefits of better performance, fast charging, and efficiency of electric cars on an EV bike.

Raptee’s motorcycles are built on a 240-Volt DC architecture, which is designed to give faster charging and better compatibility with public charging infrastructure in the country.

Raptee said it took the startup six years to develop the high-voltage architecture technology indigenously. It also has an in-house R&D unit with capabilities to design, develop, test, and validate all major components – ranging from electronics and mechanical systems to embedded software.

“High-voltage technology in electric two-wheelers opens new possibilities for faster adoption of EVs intended for a huge market in India. By supporting this project, TDB seeks to accelerate domestic innovation, strengthen local R&D capacity, and ensure that sustainable mobility solutions are developed and manufactured within the country,” TDB secretary Rajesh Kumar Pathak said.

The TDB is a statutory body of the Department of Science & Technology which provides financial assistance in the form of soft loans, equity, and grants to enterprises to commercialise indigenous technologies. It has backed homegrown innovations like TATA Indica and Bharat Biotech’s Covid-19 vaccine in the past.

Notably, Raptee also received an INR 3.2 Cr grant from heavy industries ministry through Automotive Research Association of India – Advance Mobility Transformation & Innovation Foundation (ARAI-AMTIF) in 2021.

The latest development comes almost two years after the startup raised $3 Mn in its pre-Series A round led by VC fund Bluehill Capital.

Raptee currently has a 4.5 acre production facility in Chennai with an installed annual capacity of 1 Lakh units.

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