Ather at ₹26,000 Cr: The IIT Madras Experiment That Became an EV Giant | S4E6 | Destiny Avenged | Weekend Ep.

What does it take to build an EV scooter from scratch in a country that had no EV supply chain, no ecosystem, and very little faith in hardware built in India?

In this episode of the Blume Podcast (Season 4: Destiny Avenged), Karthik sits down with Tarun Mehta, Co-founder & CEO, Ather Energy, to unpack the impossible decade behind Ather — from two college kids sleeping on yoga mats in IIT Madras labs, hand-building battery packs and prototypes, to shipping their first 10 scooters nearly 5 years after the first cheque.

This is not a story of hacks and shortcuts. It’s a story of:

- Saying no to “copy China” and betting on original engineering

- Spending years in the lab building batteries, BMS, chargers and a full-stack scooter before seeing any real revenue

- Building an R&D culture that prides itself on engineering excellence, even when it meant slower growth and higher risk.

00:00 – If Tesla called, would Tarun collaborate? (cold open)

01:23 – Destiny Avenged intro & how a hostel project became Ather Energy

03:37 – Growing up in Ahmedabad, Gujarat board & an obsession with gaming

08:23 – Choosing IIT Madras, Engineering Design & meeting Swapnil + the Stirling engine

21:39 – Quitting auto jobs, camping at IIT, and pivoting from batteries to full-stack scooters

34:46 – Deep tech vs internet: capital, gestation and why metrics are the real bottleneck

45:14 – EVs as experience machines: Infinite Cruise, smart helmets & software-led moats

57:23 – IPO, life as a public company & what Ather should look like in 2035

If you’re a founder, operator, or anyone who’s ever wondered whether it’s worth betting a decade on hard problems, this conversation is a masterclass in patience, craft, and long-term thinking.

In this candid conversation, Karthik dives deep with Tarun into how Ather was built the hard way — one experiment, one setback, and one breakthrough at a time.

Season Partners: IDFC FIRST Bank and Ultrahuman (Blume portco)

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