Chennai-based electric vehicle (EV) start-up Raptee has raised Rs 3.27 crore as a grant from the Automotive Research Association of India (ARAI). Raptee is one of those ten start-ups from the MSME sector, which has received the grant. 

Multiple media reports have suggested that the company is planning to use the newly generated fund to develop the high-voltage motor controllers, which are needed for its motorcycles. Additionally, the company will focus on designing some of its motorcycle models. 

This has been Raptee's second round of fundraising. Prior to this, it raised $0.70 million from high-net-worth individuals (HNIs) and institutions like Abdul Gaffer from Hyderabad and Sri Kaliswari Metal Powders. According to Entrackr, the company is planning to hire more skilled staff and wants to have a bandwidth of 230 staff by the end of this year. 

Talking about the recent development, Dinesh Arjun, the founder and CEO of Raptee, said, “We are building a sustainable bike for the future. India is one of the largest 2W markets in the world, however, EV adoption of motorcycles is still at a nascent stage. 

"We are mostly seeing many 2W EV brands driving the market and identifying motorcycle consumers as a white space. Our bikes will pack a punch on many fronts and will be led by cutting-edge technology which will make the performance at par with current ICE engines run bikes. We are looking forward to launching our range of motorcycles later this year," he added. 

Raptee is in the production stage now and is expecting to launch its premium motorcycle product by the second half of this year.