Tarun Mehta

Tarun Mehta, graduated from IIT Madras with a degree in Engineering Design (Dual Degree 2012). Along with Swapnil Jain, he conceptualised and started ‘Ather Energy’ in April 2013. Ather developed India’s first smart electric scooter that aims to revolutionise two-wheeler driving in India.

At IIT, Tarun was associated with various product development teams and actively involved with the entrepreneurship ecosystem (C-TIDES). He worked on more than a dozen prototypes over a wide range of topics and has six co-patents (pending) under his name.

Driven by his core interest towards electric vehicles, Tarun quit his job at Ashok Leyland in the year 2012 to start work on battery packs which is one of the biggest existing shortcomings in electric vehicles today. Eventually, realising that the problem isn’t just the battery pack, the team was drawn to the idea of designing and building a completely new electric vehicle.

As CEO of Ather Energy, Tarun drives the strategic thinking for the company while also liaising with government agencies to create EV supportive eco-systems and effectively managing internal and external stakeholders, all with a stubborn vision of delivering the best experience to Ather’s customers. He represented Ather in the ‘Technical Advisory Group for Electric Mobility’, to the Government of India. He also led the Electric Vehicle group in the Champions of Change program organised by Niti Aayog.

Tarun and Swapnil were listed on the Forbes 30 under 30 in 2018 and Fortune 40 under 40 list in 2017, 2019 and 2021 for their innovative product that is disrupting the Indian auto industry.