'Sorry Tarun, your Ather has sh*t marketing but great product': Zerodha's Nikhil Kamath

Zerodha co-founder Nikhil Kamath, in a recent post on X (formerly Twitter), revealed how his passion and interest started towards electric vehicles.

Kamath said that supporting young Indian products and entrepreneurs was a key reason for investing in Ather Energy.

"Patriotism is a different thing to different people, mine today seems to be to dream of young Indian products and entrepreneurs killing it inside and outside India. Enough of the foreign franchise is better, clothes, jewellery, food, auto, content, shoes, and just about everything else." Kamath wrote. 

"Will pick great products with terrible marketing every time, sales I hope can be solved for easier than product. The reason we made this investment is also this, every ancillary player in this space said Ather, the product is the best, but they don't know how to sell, conservative, measured, etc..."

#Patriotism is a different thing to different people, mine today seems to be to dream of young Indian products and entrepreneurs killing it inside and outside India. Enough of the foreign franchise is better, clothes, jewellery, food, auto, content, shoes, and just about… pic.twitter.com/trYDpJnujj

— Nikhil Kamath (@nikhilkamathcio) July 8, 2024

Urging people to buy more from domestic brands, Kamath added, "Let us Indians buy more Indian brands, until one day non-Indians buy Indian brands, Every one of us has pluses and minuses, Ather has sh*t marketing but great product." 

On a lighter note, Kamath also shared that he had bought an Ather scooter at MRP last year because "Tarun (Mehta, CEO of Ather Energy) didn't even give me a discount".

"My story with Ather Energy began when I started being bullish on the EV sector sometime last year and found interesting insights," he said, adding that the Indian EV market is expected to grow at a CAGR of 22.4% to $117.78 billion by 2032.

He continued, highlighting that this projected growth is a part of a larger trend, with a 47% increase in India's EV sales expected in 2023 alone. Furthermore, he mentioned that the government's ambitious target is for 30% of all new vehicles sold in India to be electric by 2030.

He also noted that every second electric vehicle sold in India is a two-wheeler, underscoring the popularity of electric motorcycles and scooters. India ranks second globally in sales of electric two-wheelers, only behind China.

He concluded with an observation on the vibrant startup ecosystem in India, mentioning that there are 319 EV startups currently registered, all contributing to the dynamic growth of this sector.

According to reports, Nikhil Kamath has invested over Rs 250 crore in Ather Energy.