Bengaluru: HDFC Mutual Fund and Aditya Birla Sun Life Mutual Fund were the biggest buyers in Ather Energy’s Rs 1,300 crore institutional share sale, together picking up more than a quarter of the issue.Mutual funds dominated the fundraise. HDFC’s schemes took about 13.5% of the shares on offer, while Aditya Birla Sun Life funds bought another 13.1%. Axis Mutual Fund accounted for 10%.Edelweiss, Tata and Motilal Oswal funds were also among the large investors. Abu Dhabi Investment Authority was the most prominent overseas buyer, taking a little over 5% through two investment arms.Ather sold about 1.08 crore shares at Rs 1,202 each. The price was slightly above the minimum level fixed for the issue. The fundraise opened on July 15 and closed on July 20.The Rs 1,300 crore placement is part of a larger fundraising push by the electric scooter maker. Ather is separately raising Rs 1,200 crore from existing investors Hero MotoCorp and the India-Japan Fund, as well as founders Tarun Mehta and Swapnil Jain.Together, the two deals will bring in about Rs 2,500 crore. The fresh capital will give Ather more room to spend on factories, new scooters and technology as competition intensifies in India’s electric two-wheeler market.The company is developing a new scooter platform aimed at a wider, more price-conscious customer base. It is also setting up a 98-acre factory in Maharashtra. The first phase is expected to add capacity for five lakh vehicles a year.Ather has been expanding after its stock-market listing last year. Its Rizta family scooter has helped lift sales, while its retail network has grown rapidly.The company currently trails TVS Motor and Bajaj Auto in electric two-wheeler registrations. Rival Ola Electric also tapped institutional investors recently, raising Rs 780 crore through a similar share sale.