Former Apple India finance head Deepak Jain joins Ather Energy as CFO

Bengaluru-based electric vehicle maker Ather Energy has hired former Apple India finance controller Deepak Jain as its chief financial officer, the company said in a statement on Thursday.

“Working with Ather is a rare opportunity (as one gets) to work (using) cutting-edge technology and build products that are setting the bar in the two-wheeler category,” Jain said in a statement.

Apart from the five-year stint at the iPhone maker, Deepak’s over 20 years of work experience spans across global brands like First Advantage, P&G and Gillette in various capacities, the statement said.

Jain joins Ather from First Advantage, a US-based employee background check and drug screening solutions company, where he was CFO and vice president.

“Specialising in conceptualising, leading and executing business expansion strategies in manufacturing, trading and services business environments, Deepak will play a key role in Ather’s aggressive expansion plans,” the statement said.

Ather Energy

Ather Energy currently operates in Bengaluru and Chennai and looks to expand to other major cities. Founded in 2013 by IIT Madras alumni Tarun Mehta and Swapnil Jain, Ather Energy is backed by Flipkart’s Bansals, Hero Motocorp and Tiger Global.

Last year, Hero MotoCorp invested an additional $19 million in Ather.

Its artificial intelligence-powered electric scooter Ather 450 comes with a touchscreen dashboard that allows onboard navigation with options of alternative routes and saved locations. There is also the Ather app that enables push navigation from the phone to the vehicle's dashboard, remote monitoring of the vehicle’s health and charge status, as is common in electric vehicles across the world.

The company’s public charging network Ather Grid is spread across 38 charging points in Bengaluru and 14 charging points in Chennai. The company has 51 patent applications, 113 trademarks and 123 design registrations to its name.