Raptee, a premium electric motorcycle startup, has recently unveiled its maiden manufacturing factory in Chennai. This state-of-the-art facility, spanning across 3 acres, will be dedicated to the production of their highly anticipated EV motorcycles, set to hit the market later this year. Additionally, the campus will house the majority of Raptee’s skilled Research and Development team, fostering seamless collaboration and innovation within the company.
Raptee intends to make an investment of INR 85 crore in a new plant with an annual capacity of 1 Lakh units. This facility will serve as Raptee’s main production plant for the next 24 months. The company aims to hire 470 individuals to handle manufacturing and drive further design innovation in their highly anticipated motorcycles. The plant will feature a cutting-edge research and development center with advanced development and testing facilities to support future product development. Additionally, the manufacturing plant will include a specialized battery pack assembly line.
Speaking about the newly setup plant, Dinesh Arjun, Co-Founder CEO, Raptee, said “This is a huge leap forward for us. We are at an inflection point where we move from a small R&D outfit to becoming a full blown OEM and we’ve identified the perfect property to maintain the balance for the years to come. We’ve been very particular about having the R&D and Manufacturing teams in the same campus to improve collaborations in this extremely crucial period for the company and that meant the entire property will need to be inside the City. This facility ticks all those boxes and will help service our customers better.”
The centrally located property was inaugurated by Shaji Koshy, Former Sr.Vice president at Royal Enfield and an advisor to Raptee.
Commenting on the factory opening, Shaji Koshy, Former Senior VP, Royal Enfield, said, “I am extremely happy that such young minds from Chennai have been able to develop a remarkable product and I really want to support this team who has a potential to create a big impact in the EV landscape in India and Globally. Its an honour and happy moment for me to be inaugurating the new facility for Raptee, which is now moving from their small R&D centre to a full fledged OEM facility and I wish they run out of capacity very soon in this facility.”
Jayapradeep Vasudevan (JP), Chief Business Officer, Raptee, said, “This move is a big motivation for the entire team at Raptee as the new facility houses a dedicated block for the Admin and R&D, which provides a much better working ambience for our team to enjoy and contribute to the growth journey of Raptee. This facility is big enough to cater to the growing size of our team for the next two years. From a manufacturing capacity standpoint, it also gives us enough flexibility to meet the customer demand from the time of launch. The fact that the families of our team attended the inauguration reiterates the commitment of our team and their families’ support towards the success of Raptee. At this moment, as a team we are really happy and proud that we are progressing towards delivering a world class EV motorcycle and customer experience to become a Premium EV brand.”
The concept of Raptee was born in 2019 with the sole intention of democratizing electric mobility in India. Looking back, it wasn’t known how things would pan out at that time, but the founders had a clear vision of making a difference. Their goal was to transform the contemporary concept of motorcycling in today’s time and create a change that would merge innovation and sustainability. Their expertise lied in mindful innovation, and thus Raptee, a full stack electric motorcycle startup with a strong technical moat, came into existence.
The company was founded by four engineers from Chennai, who had previously worked at Tesla and Wipro. Their aim was to introduce a no-compromise electric motorcycle to an EV market dominated by scooters. They embarked on a mission to craft a motorcycle that went beyond being just an EV. They envisioned an augmented machine that incorporated an adaptive machine-learning algorithm, providing riders with a unique and personalized experience. With a team consisting of over 60 members, Raptee boasted a portfolio of 32 patents, and they continued to work towards creating a no-compromise electric motorcycle for consumers in the world’s largest motorcycle market.
Raptee’s primary objective was to offer customers a premium experience through cutting-edge technology products and the dedication of passionate individuals. Their goal was to make mobility smarter and safer for all.
In early 2023, Raptee was awarded a grant of INR 3.27 crore from the Automotive Research Association of India (ARAI), a prominent research and development organization established by the automotive industry and the Government of India. This grant was received as part of the Advance Mobility Transformation & Innovation Foundation’s (AMTIF) Industry Accelerator program, which falls under the Capital Goods Scheme initiated by the Ministry of Heavy Industries, Government of India. The memorandum of understanding (MOUs) were exchanged during a ceremony graced by the presence of Dr. Mahendra Nath Pandey, the Honorable Minister of Heavy Industries, Government of India.
