As India’s quick-commerce platforms race to ship every part from groceries to smartphones in minutes, electrical mobility startup Yulu has seized the growth, elevating $93 million in contemporary funding.
The Bengaluru‑based mostly startup affords electrical two‑wheelers on weekly subscription plans, so supply drivers can leap straight into the gig economic system with out shopping for their very own autos. With round 50,000 autos in its fleet, Yulu stories that it logs about 1.6 million zero‑emission miles every week and powers greater than 750,000 deliveries a day. The brand new funding will let Yulu develop that fleet to 200,000 bikes over the following two years and launch sooner electrical two-wheelers aimed toward new logistics use circumstances.
The Sequence C spherical comprised $63 million in fairness led by GEF Capital Companions and $30 million in debt financing. About $5.5 million of the fairness element was used to purchase shares from seed traders whose funds had been nearing the tip of their funding life, co-founder and CEO Amit Gupta stated in an interview.
The deal valued Yulu at about $170 million post-money, individuals aware of the matter informed TechCrunch. Gupta declined to remark when requested concerning the valuation and didn’t dispute the determine.
Present traders Bajaj Auto and Magna Worldwide didn’t take part within the spherical after waiving their pre-emptive rights, permitting GEF to amass its goal possession stake, Gupta stated. He added that the startup expects this to be its remaining fairness fundraising earlier than an eventual public itemizing, with future fleet enlargement financed primarily by means of debt and lease financing.
The enterprise strikes towards turning into worthwhile earlier than curiosity and taxes subsequent yr, after reaching constructive EBITDA final monetary yr, Gupta informed TechCrunch. The startup additionally grew its income seven-fold between fiscal 2023 and financial 2026, he stated, with out sharing specifics.
The COVID shift
Based as a bike-sharing startup for city commuters in 2017, Yulu discovered its greatest alternative throughout the COVID-19 pandemic as demand for meals and grocery deliveries accelerated.
In the present day, Gupta informed TechCrunch that about 95% of Yulu’s income comes from renting electrical bikes to gig staff on weekly subscriptions, whereas the remainder is generated by its station‑based mostly rental service in Bengaluru. The startup has additionally dropped an earlier plan to promote bikes on to shoppers.
To gas its subsequent development section, Yulu is introducing a full-sized, greater‑pace electrical scooter, known as Yulu Categorical. It’s designed for longer‑haul e‑commerce deliveries, bike taxis, and specific parcel companies — areas that its slower fleet couldn’t beforehand cowl.
A couple of third of the deliberate 200,000‑car fleet might be made up of this new mannequin, Gupta stated.
Whereas Yulu’s present low‑pace fleet is constructed by Bajaj Auto, the brand new excessive‑pace scooter comes from a distinct Indian producer that Gupta declined to call.
About 500 of the brand new bikes are already working in Bengaluru and are being trialed in three further cities, Gupta informed TechCrunch.
At the moment, Yulu operates in 12 Indian cities, working its personal operations in Bengaluru, Mumbai, Delhi‑NCR, and Hyderabad, whereas partnering with franchisees in eight different markets. The startup, Gupta stated, goals to succeed in roughly 20 cities inside the subsequent yr, with Chennai and Pune among the many key targets for enlargement.
Gupta said that Yulu companions with virtually each main fast‑commerce, meals‑supply, and e‑commerce platform — together with Amazon and Walmart-owned Flipkart — although its prospects are the gig staff who lease the bikes, not the platforms themselves. He in contrast Yulu’s position to “the AWS of mobility,” supplying the infrastructure that lets supply staff function with none third-party logistics suppliers taking a lower.
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