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Electric scooter maker Ather Energy‘s Chief Financial Officer Deepak Jain will depart from the company after a four-year stint, and be replaced by Sohil Parekh, its senior finance controller, an Ather spokesperson told YourStory.

The shuffle is largely to help give Parekh some runway before he steers the company through its initial public offering (IPO) planned for next year.

Parekh joined Ather in September 2022 after spending over seven years at Claris Lifesciences. He will take over from Jain as CFO in April 2024, although the latter will stay on for three months to guide his replacement, the spokesperson said.

In December, Ather Energy secured Rs 140 crore in funding from its longstanding investor, Hero MotoCorp Ltd (HMCL), via a rights issue. HMCL, in an exchange filing, told regulators it aims to increase its ownership stake in Ather by an additional 3%, on top of the 36.7% it currently holds.

Ather’s upcoming IPO follows in the wake of its biggest rival, Ola Electric’s IPO, which aims to raise Rs 5,500 crore from an issue of 95.2 million shares.

Given the tough macroeconomic conditions in the market with the fallout at BYJU’s and Paytm turning investor sentiment sour, Ola Electric‘s IPO will be a litmus test for Ather in many ways as it puts together its listing papers.

Ather’s loss for FY 21-22 widened to Rs 344.1 crore, compared to Rs 233.3 crore in the previous year, largely due to increased expenses. It hasn’t filed its FY23 results yet.

The news of the shuffle in the CFO role was first reported by Moneycontrol.