Japan’s TDK Ventures invests in Ultraviolette

Electric two-wheeler start-up Ultraviolette on Tuesday announced a strategic investment from TDK Ventures, the corporate venture capital arm of Japan’s TDK Corporation.

The investment round of $21 million saw strategic participation from TDK Ventures and strong continued backing from existing investors Zoho Corporation and Lingotto (previously Exor Capital) among other leading institutional investors.

Ultraviolette’s investors includes Qualcomm Ventures, Zoho Corporation, Speciale Invest, Lingotto (Previously Exor Capital), and TVS Motor Company . Other notable investors in Ultraviolette include Sriharsha Majety (Co-founder & CEO, Swiggy), Ankit Nagori (Co-founder, Cure Foods; former Chief Business Officer, Flipkart), Aprameya Radhakrishna (Co-founder, TaxiForSure), and actor Dulquer Salmaan.

The investment comes at a time when Ultraviolette is scaling up manufacturing, expanding its distribution network, and bringing its product portfolio to global markets of the world. Ultraviolette is actively expanding its retail footprint across India, scaling from its current presence in 20 cities to over 100 cities nationwide.

Earlier this year, Ultraviolette forayed into e-scooters, riding the high-performance e-motorbike company into the fast-growing mass market segment. The Bengaluru-based start-up unveiled its new product portfolio aimed at both the Indian and global markets.

Ultraviolette plans to get into four different segments in two-wheelers in the next two years, Ultraviolette co-founder and CEO Narayan Subramaniam told Fortune India earlier this year. “Our top-down approach has enabled us to harness the core technology that we have developed over the last seven years,” said Subramaniam. “All of the R&D that has gone into battery and motors enables us and puts us in a very strong position to aggressively start getting into multiple other vehicle segments,” Subramaniam said.

“Our partnership with TDK Ventures fast forwards our efforts, from advanced battery platforms to intelligent vehicle systems. This collaboration not only accelerates our vision of future ready mobility but also reinforces our commitment to delivering electric vehicles that are aspirational and globally relevant,” stated Subramaniam.

Niraj Rajmohan, CTO and Co-founder of Ultraviolette, commented, “Through this partnership with TDK Ventures, Ultraviolette will continue to innovate in deep-tech to shape the future of mobility. Together, we will continue to push the boundaries in building safer, smarter, and a more efficient electric mobility eco-system.”

TDK Ventures is committed to supporting disruptive startups that are driving scalable solutions in energy, mobility, and sustainability - key sectors that are shaping the future of global economy. Its investment, as part of Ultraviolette’s latest funding round represents TDK Ventures’ commitment to advancing sustainable transportation technologies around the globe.

Ravi Jain, Investment Director of TDK Ventures, commented, “We look forward to bringing our TDK Goodness to Ultraviolette and their ambitious plan to design the next generation of energy efficient and performance EV 2W platforms. TDK Ventures is excited to support Ultraviolette in their relentless pursuit of growing their global reach."

In late 2023, TDK Ventures launched its Bengaluru Innovation Hub to empower India’s exceptional entrepreneurs to scale their technologies globally by leveraging its expertise in nurturing deep-tech startups around the world.