Key facts
- Yulu raised $93 million in a Series C funding round.
- The funding consists of $63 million in equity and $30 million in debt.
- GEF Capital Partners led the equity portion of the funding round.
- The investment will support Yulu's fleet expansion to 200,000 electric two-wheelers.
- Yulu plans to introduce a new, faster electric scooter model named Yulu Express.
- The company aims to expand its operations to around 20 Indian cities in the next year.
Electric mobility startup Yulu has secured $93 million in fresh funding to capitalize on the rapid growth of quick-commerce platforms in India. The Series C round includes $63 million in equity, led by GEF Capital Partners, and $30 million in debt financing.
Yulu, which offers electric two-wheelers on weekly subscription plans to delivery drivers, currently operates a fleet of approximately 50,000 electric vehicles. These vehicles log about 1.6 million miles weekly, powering over 750,000 deliveries daily. The new capital infusion is earmarked for expanding the fleet to 200,000 bikes over the next two years and introducing new, faster electric two-wheeler models designed for various logistics applications.
Co-founder and CEO Amit Gupta stated that about $5.5 million of the equity component was used to purchase shares from seed investors. The deal reportedly valued Yulu at around $170 million post-money. Existing investors Bajaj Auto and Magna International did not participate in this round. Yulu anticipates this will be its final equity fundraising before a potential public listing, with future fleet expansion to be financed primarily through debt and lease agreements.
The company is moving towards profitability before interest and taxes next year, having achieved positive EBITDA in the last fiscal year. Yulu projects a seven-fold increase in revenue between fiscal years 2023 and 2026. Founded in 2017 as a bike-sharing service for urban commuters, Yulu found a significant growth opportunity during the COVID-19 pandemic due to increased demand for delivery services.
Currently, 95% of Yulu's revenue comes from renting electric bikes to gig workers, with the remainder from its station-based rental service. The startup is launching the Yulu Express, a full-sized, higher-speed electric scooter, to cater to longer-haul e-commerce deliveries and express parcel services. About a third of the planned 200,000-vehicle fleet will comprise this new model. While its current low-speed fleet is manufactured by Bajaj Auto, the new high-speed scooter is sourced from a different Indian manufacturer.
Yulu operates in 12 Indian cities, including Bengaluru, Mumbai, Delhi-NCR, and Hyderabad, with plans to expand to approximately 20 cities within the next year, targeting Chennai and Pune. The company partners with major quick-commerce, food-delivery, and e-commerce platforms like Amazon and Flipkart, positioning itself as the "AWS of mobility" by providing essential infrastructure for delivery workers.