Two months ago, Indian electric motorcycle startup Ultraviolette expanded to 10 countries. Currently fuelled $21 million in all capital rounds, led by the corporate venture arm of Japanese electronics giant TDK Corporation, Ultraviolette is overdrive with its expansion plans.
The nine-year-old startup plans to expand its European footprint four times, enter other motorcycle-driven markets such as Latin America and Southeast Asia, and increase its portfolio to 14 models by early 2027.
Behind Ultraviolette is two childhood friends. I have two friends, CEO Narayan Subramaniam and CTO Niraj Rajmohan. They combined expertise in mechanical engineering, automotive design, computer science and electronics to impress the segment’s two-wheel market.
The Tesla-inspired duo began UV rays when the Indian electric two-wheel market was dominated by slower models, primarily meeting commercial and utility needs. The early boom was driven by Chinese imports offering low-cost options, followed by a wave of homemade startups and, more recently, legacy makers entered the space.
Instead of becoming just another player in that race, the Ultraviolette co-founder set out to build an electric motorcycle that matches the performance of a 150cc to 800cc internal combustion engine sports bike.
“If we have to make electric power exciting on motorcycles, what do we need? That’s what we started,” Rajmohan (pictured above, right) said in an exclusive interview.
The Bengaluru-based startup took about four years from its founding in 2016 and launched its first model in 2019. The startup went through multiple design iterations before finalizing the seventh version. The commercial version debuted with a fixed battery pack to deliver a top speed of 96 mph with a range of over 186 miles and 30kW of peak power and up to 100 Newton meters of torque.
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Ultraviolette has also launched a lightweight shockwave motorcycle and a Tesseract scooter. It features front and rear radars and cameras to allow for a driving assistance experience and blind spot detection. The scooter costs £145,000 ($1,650), but the base price for that motorcycle (former showroom) is £175,000 ($2,000) and costs up to $10,000.
Ultraviolette vehicles are equipped with ESIM connections and feature predictive maintenance with unique diagnostic systems. Rajmohan said the system can detect even minor issues, such as when the chain needs lubrication. Startups offer apps that provide all of these insights to consumers on the go.
The company also established a manufacturing and assembly facility in the city of Electronics, Bengaluru, with 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. Approximately 500 people work at Ultraviolette, which includes 200 corporate functions and R&D.
Ultraviolette’s business model was partially shaped by Tesla owners. The co-founder spoke to the owner of a Tesla in the US, one of the first to buy the Model S in 2015, and learned what the car was different from other EVs of the time.
“These Tesla cars were very special because ownership was considered progressive. It was like a lifestyle statement,” Rajmohan told TechCrunch.
The co-founder aims to bring that sentiment to Ultraviolette’s design and branding, making it a global company from day one. As Rajmohan explained, the word “Violet” is similarly pronounced in over 30 European languages, with “Ultra” indicating cutting edge. Enhanced that ambition, the startup pursued European accreditation of all vehicles, even before entering the market.
This is unlike other Indian electric motorcycle manufacturers who have tried to meet local demand. India accounts for almost 40% of the world’s motorcycle sales, but most of them are powered by internal combustion engines.
A recent report from government-supported think tank Niti Aayog shows that the domestic EV market is relatively uninhabited, and given the relatively pervasive domestic EV market, it has strategic implications for UV rays. India aims to reach 30% EV penetration by 2030, but progress so far suggests that it could be an ambitious goal.
India is also a price-sensitive market, and motorcycles are usually an essential and affordable mode of daily transportation, rather than discretionary purchases. As a result, selling large high-end variants in the country could be a challenge for Ultraviolette, at least at first.
“We were very clear that what we were doing was heading towards a universal segment 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 location to around 300,000 units by the beginning of next year. Ultraviolette operates 20 stores in 20 cities in India and is expected to grow to around 100 by March next year. Approximately 50 of these stores (one per city) are expected to open later this year by festive season.
Rajmohan told TechCrunch that the startup is working to expand its European presence, with 40 dealers.
“Next year is where scale-ups will happen in Europe,” he said.
The startup will also begin piloting in Latin America and Southeast Asia next year, and will later go to markets including the US and Japan.
Ultraviolette sells more than 3,000 motorcycles in India, and expects to sell up to 10,000 later this year. It also aims to earn more than $50 million by the end of this fiscal year.
The new funding has seen participation from existing investors Zoho Corporation and Lingotto (formerly Exor Capital). So far, it has counted Qualcomm Ventures, Exor and TVS Motor among other major investors, raising approximately $75 million in funding.
