Chennai-headquartered TVS Motor Company has made an additional investment of Rs 30 crore in electric vehicle startup Ultraviolette Automotive (UV), as part of its Series B round of funding.

The startup says to accelerate the adoption of EVs in India it is set-out to build India’s first high-performance electric motorcycle – the F77, three years ago. The pre-production version of the F77 was unveiled in November 2019 and is now gearing up towards the launch of the motorcycle in the market.

Commenting on the additional investment, Manu Saxena, VP – Future Mobility and Dealer Transformation, TVS Motor Company said, “Ultraviolette Automotive continues to demonstrate excellent engineering and technological capabilities and innovativeness in developing high-performance electric motorcycle. TVS Motor is excited to see the progress and developments made by the UV team and we are confident that these actions will go a long way towards establishing a greener future for India.”

Narayan Subramaniam, founder and CEO, Ultraviolette Automotive: “We have seen significant advancements in the transportation and mobility industry globally, with an increased demand for personal mobility in recent times. We also see rapid growth in the Indian two-wheeler industry with a special focus on the electric vehicles, and it is in this context that we set out to create the F77 – India’s first high-performance motorcycle. We unveiled the motorcycle less than a year ago, and since then, we have achieved significant strides in making the F77 production-ready. We have conducted aggressive track and road tests on the motorcycle, adjusting and modifying the specifications to an all-new level of perfection and have built out a robust technology platform to support enhanced user experience. TVS Motor Company has always shared our passion for building globally competitive and futuristic mobility solutions, and we are excited about our continued partnership with them.”

Niraj Rajmohan, founder and CTO, Ultraviolette Automotive: “The F77 was conceived with a single-minded purpose of creating an identity for electric mobility in India, and TVS Motor Company has been a strategic partner in this journey. Since the unveiling, we have received an overwhelming response from the market for the F77, and we have spent the last few months making critical enhancements both on the design and technology side to make the F77 more efficient, responsive and powerful. The F77 is high-end technology, and a high performance-oriented motorcycle built with principles used in the aviation industry - right from the advanced engineering simulations,

multi-level safety systems to the design identity of the motorcycle. The F77 is a smart and connected electric motorcycle that comes with remote diagnostics over-the-air (OTA) upgrades, regenerative braking, multiple ride modes, bike tracking, ride diagnostics and a whole lot of other features. The Ultraviolette F77 will first be rolled out next year with expanding national availability planned in phases.”