EV Mobility Platform Yulu Gets $9 Mn Loan From Development Finance Corp

SUMMARY

The funds will be deployed to accelerate last-mile mobility for movement of people and delivery of goods

Yulu said that the investment was part of DFC’s focus on financing clean and zero emissions transportation solutions in the country

The financing round comes close on the heels of the EV startup raising $82 Mn Series B funding round

Shared electric mobility startup Yulu has secured a loan of $9 Mn (INR 73 Cr) from the US International Development Finance Corporation (DFC).

The funds will be deployed to accelerate last-mile mobility for movement of people and delivery of goods. The deal was executed between the startup and DFC’s e-mobility financing arm.

Yulu said that the investment was part of DFC’s focus on financing clean and zero emissions transportation solutions in the country.

“This financing from a forward-looking institution as the DFC speaks about their belief in Yulu’s vision and the ability to execute at scale, to not just create a green mobility alternative but also to create livelihoods through direct and indirect employment opportunities. We are quite thrilled,” said Yulu’s chief financial officer (CFO) Anuj Tewari.

Founded in 2017 by Amit Gupta, Hemant Gupta, Naveen Dachuri and Rajendra Misra, Yulu offers electric mobility solutions in Bengaluru, Mumbai, and Delhi-NCR. It also operates a battery-as-a-service (BaaS) platform for electric vehicles.

This comes barely a couple of months after the EV startup raised a massive $82 Mn Series B funding round led by the US-based Magna International.

The startup claims to have made 75 Mn+ ‘green’ deliveries. On the other hand, its BaaS service has completed more than 3.5 Mn battery swaps till date.

Speaking to Inc42 earlier, Amit Gupta said that the startup increased its revenue 3X compared to pre-pandemic era. Additionally, the startup claimed to have more than 10,000 ebikes operational and is targeting an annual run rate (ARR) of $6 Mn.

He also said that Yulu plans to expand its footprint to top 20-25 cities across the country in the next 3-4 years, with around a million vehicles in its kitty. In addition, Yulu is also looking to add more than 500 battery charging and swapping stations to its existing EV fleet in the next 10 months.

Yulu largely competes with players such as Exponent Energy, TATA Power and Ather Grid, among others in the highly lucrative EV battery and charging ecosystem.

Earlier this month, another shared electric mobility startup GreenCell Express signed a $55 Mn financing deal with the Asian Development Bank (ADB), the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) and Clean Technology Fund (CTF).

Meanwhile, US-based original equipment manufacturer (OEM) Qualcomm is also purportedly scouting Indian EV startups for potential investments.

In November, EV startup MoEVing bagged $2.5 Mn in Series A funding from JSW Ventures, while another two-wheeler mobility startup BattRE raised an undisclosed seed funding from a group of investors led by Agility Ventures in the same month.

Buoyed by rising awareness about benefits of EVs for the environment and the various incentives provided by the Centre and state governments to promote adoption of EVs, the sales of EVs is on a rise in the country.

EV two-wheeler registrations continued their upward trend for the fifth consecutive month as registrations soared 42% month-on-month (MoM) to 75,294 units in October. Ola Electric occupied the pole position, accounting for 16,129 ebike registrations during the month.

Indian EV startups have attracted over $1.8 Bn in funding since 2014. According to a report, the Indian EV market was pegged at $383.5 Mn in 2021 and is projected to grow to $152.21 Bn by 2030.