Ather Energy’s former VP Nilay Chandra joins Elevar Equity

Nilay Chandra, who led Ather Energy as vice president scooter business head, has joined Elevar Equity. Led by an entrepreneurial emerging markets team, Elevar seeks to connect the economic resilience and vibrancy of low income communities with capital markets. To address issues of access and inequity, Elevar invests early growth capital in entrepreneurs and businesses.

Chandra shared, "New year and a new journey. After a rollercoaster ride in the EV sector for the last 8 years, I was keen to try something that would give me a different exposure and while at it, impact lives of Indians beyond the top of the pyramid." He said that Elevar Equity is just that combination." Chandra has joined Elevar in an investing and portfolio management role. An early stage VC, Elevar has made investments across microfinance, education, agriculture, healthcare and a lot more, touching 50 million households beyond Tier 1 towns over their last 15+ year journey.

Chandra said, "Am super excited and you’ll hear a lot more from me on India’s entrepreneurial households and about investing as a career option for operators. And hopefully, we also get to collaborate in this journey of inclusion with massive scale."

During his stint at Ather Energy, Chandra led the growth stage of the brand, followed by a market share increase of 2.5 percent while driving the category to a 192 percent growth rate. He built a 130 member strong sales team at Ather and another 100+ cross functional teams as the P&L head of the scooter business. 70+ retail partners across 90+ cities, 10+ retail and institutional finance partners to help scale the business at a rapid pace.

Chandra, who began his career at Bosch, has worked in companies like Wipro Consumer Care, GSK Consumer Healthcare India and Flipkart.