TDK backs Ultraviolette with $21M to take India-made electric motorcycles global

Two months ago, Indian electric motorcycle startup Ultraviolette expanded into 10 European countries. Now, fueled with $21 million in an all-equity round led by the corporate venture arm of Japanese electronics giant TDK Corporation, Ultraviolette is putting its expansion plans into overdrive.

The nine-year-old startup plans to grow its European footprint fourfold, enter other motorcycle-driven markets such as Latin America and Southeast Asia, and increase its portfolio to 14 models by early 2027. Ultraviolette’s global expansion follows the 2024 launch of its F77 Mach 2 flagship model and its second product, the F77 SuperStreet, in February.

Behind Ultraviolette are two childhood friends — CEO Narayan Subramaniam and CTO Niraj Rajmohan — who combined their expertise in mechanical engineering, automotive design, computer science, and electronics to electrify the mid-segment two-wheeler market.

The duo, which drew inspiration from Tesla, started Ultraviolette at a time when India’s electric two-wheeler market was dominated by low-speed models, mainly catering to commercial and utility needs. The early boom was driven by Chinese imports offering low-cost options, followed by a wave of homegrown startups and, more recently, legacy manufacturers entering the space.

Instead of becoming just another player in that race, the Ultraviolette co-founders set out to build electric motorcycles that could match the performance of 150cc to 800cc internal combustion engine sports bikes.

“We asked ourselves, if we have to make electric exciting in two-wheelers, what would it take? And that’s the objective with which we started,” said Rajmohan (pictured above, right) in an exclusive interview.

The Bengaluru-based startup took about four years from its inception in 2016 to unveil the first model in 2019. The startup went through multiple design iterations before finalizing the seventh version — hence the name F77. The commercial version debuted with a fixed battery pack to deliver over 186 miles of range and a top speed of 96 miles/hour with a 30kW peak power and up to 100 newton-meters of torque.

Ultraviolette has also unveiled the lightweight Shock Wave motorcycle as well as the Tesseract scooter, which features front and rear radars and cameras to enable an assisted-driving experience and blindspot detection. The scooter costs ₹145,000 ($1,650), while its motorcycles (ex-showroom) have a base price of ₹175,000 ($2,000) and goes up to $10,000.

Ultraviolette’s vehicles come equipped with eSIM connectivity and feature predictive maintenance powered by a proprietary diagnostics system. Rajmohan said the system can detect even minor issues, such as when the chain needs lubrication. The startup offers an app that provides all these insights to consumers on the go.

The company has also established a manufacturing and assembly facility in Bengaluru’s Electronics City, with a capacity of 30,000 units. Today, the company handles everything in-house from developing embedded software and battery management systems to motor controllers and even battery manufacturing. About 500 people work at Ultraviolette, including 200 in corporate functions and R&D.

Ultraviolette’s business model was shaped in part by Tesla owners. The co-founders spent time talking to Tesla owners in the U.S., who were among the first ones to buy the Model S in 2015, to learn what made the that car different from other EVs of its time.

“These Tesla cars were very special, as owning them was seen as progressive. It was more of a lifestyle statement,” Rajmohan told TechCrunch.

The co-founders brought that sentiment to Ultraviolette’s design and branding, aiming to make it a global company from day one. As Rajmohan explained, the word “violet” is pronounced similarly in over 30 European languages, while “ultra” signals something cutting-edge. Reinforcing that ambition, the startup pursued European certification for all its vehicles even before entering the market.

This is unlike other Indian electric two-wheeler manufacturers, which have tried to cater to local demand. India accounts for nearly 40% of global motorcycle sales — although most of those are powered by internal combustion engines.

Expanding beyond India makes strategic sense for Ultraviolette, given the domestic EV market remains relatively underpenetrated — with adoption at just 7.66%, compared to the global average of 16.48%, according to a recent report by government-backed think tank NITI Aayog. While India aims to reach 30% EV penetration by 2030, progress so far suggests that it may be an ambitious target.

India is also a price-sensitive market, where two-wheelers are typically not discretionary purchases, but essential and affordable modes of daily transportation. As a result, selling high-end variants at scale in the country could be a challenge for Ultraviolette — at least initially.

“We were very clear that what we’re doing is, we’re working toward segments which are more universal in nature,” Rajmohan said.

What’s next?

Ultraviolette plans to expand the capacity of its Bengaluru production facility to up to 60,000 units and add a larger location to scale to about 300,000 units by early next year. Ultraviolette operates 20 stores across 20 Indian cities and plans to grow to around 100 by March next year. About 50 of those stores — one per city — are expected to open by the festive season later this year.

Rajmohan told TechCrunch the startup is working on expanding its European presence, where it has 40 dealers.

“Next year is where the scale-up happens in Europe,” he said.

The startup also plans to start its pilot in Latin America and Southeast Asia next year and go to markets including the U.S. and Japan later.

Ultraviolette has sold more than 3,000 motorcycles in India and has projected to sell up to 10,000 later this year. It has also targeted over $50 million in revenue by the end of this financial year.

The new funding saw participation from Ultraviolette’s existing investors Zoho Corporation and Lingotto (previously Exor Capital). To date, it has raised around $75 million in funding and counts Qualcomm Ventures, Exor, and TVS Motor among its other key investors.