Let Us Indians Buy More Indian Brands: Zerodha's Nikhil Kamath

In April, according to reports, Kamath, co-founder of Zerodha, acquired a substantial stake in Ather Energy from an existing investor, which also included Flipkart co-founder Sachin Bansal

Billionaire entrepreneur and investor Nikhil Kamath expressed on Monday that his decision to invest in Ather Energy was primarily driven by his commitment to backing young Indian products and entrepreneurs. In April, according to reports, Kamath, co-founder of Zerodha, acquired a substantial stake in Ather Energy from an existing investor, which also included Flipkart co-founder Sachin Bansal.

"#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 in a post on X (formerly Twitter).

“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…,” he added.

Encouraging increased support for domestic manufacturers, "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."

In a lighthearted remark, Kamath humorously mentioned that he purchased an Ather scooter at its full price last year, quipping that "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 remarked. He also noted that the Indian EV market is projected to expand at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 22.4 per cent, reaching $117.78 billion by 2032.