Electric Mobility Startup Ultraviolette Secures $85 Million Series E, with Intel CEO Lip-Bu Tan Joining as Investor and Advisor
Bengaluru-based electric motorcycle maker Ultraviolette Automotive has raised $85 million in a Series E funding round led by Yali Capital and TDK Ventures, with participation from Walden International chairman and Intel CEO Lip-Bu Tan, along with the company's existing investors.
Here's the standout detail. Lip-Bu Tan isn't just writing a check, he's joining Ultraviolette as an advisor too, and reports suggest he's been following the company's engineering work since first meeting the team back in 2019. He described being drawn to Ultraviolette's mix of serious engineering depth, strong intellectual property, and its willingness to tackle genuinely hard technical problems, a notable vote of confidence from one of the semiconductor industry's most recognisable names.
The capital has clear priorities. Ultraviolette plans to scale production of its existing F77 and X-47 electric motorcycles, launch its upcoming Tesseract scooter and Shockwave enduro bike, and develop its next generation of electric vehicle platforms spanning 48V to 400V architectures. This follows the company's recent announcement of a new manufacturing facility with annual capacity for up to 500,000 units, a serious scale-up bet.
The bigger ambition is global. Ultraviolette is targeting entry into the US market by 2027, with plans to also expand across Latin America and Southeast Asia, positioning itself to move beyond India's domestic electric two-wheeler race and compete as a genuine international brand.
The funding math tells its own story of momentum. This $85 million round follows $66 million already raised in Ultraviolette's ongoing Series E, including $21 million from TDK Ventures and $45 million from Zoho Corporation and Lingotto. Combined, Ultraviolette has now raised $151 million across disclosed rounds since August 2025 alone, with backers including Qualcomm Ventures, TVS Motors and Speciale Invest rounding out its investor base.
Founded in 2016 by Narayan Subramaniam and Niraj Rajmohan, Ultraviolette's Yali Capital backer noted that India's shift toward cleaner mobility will increasingly be driven by electric two-wheelers given the sheer scale of the segment, a thesis this round puts real capital behind.
From engineering-first roots to Silicon Valley credibility, Ultraviolette's latest raise signals serious global intent for Indian-built electric motorcycles.
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— Sandeep Raiza