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

Summary

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 ove...