E-bike Rental Startup Yulu Planning Rapid Expansion As Government Pushes Transport Electrification

Challenging rivals such as Zypp Electric and Ola Electric, e-bike rental startup Yulu is eyeing financial infusion through a public issue. The company intends to fuel its rapid expansion as trends predict it will turn operationally profitable by September.

Yulu is an e-bike rental company that caters to businesses including Zomato, Swiggy, and Zepto. Let's take a look at the latest developments in the e-bike rental space, which might define the trends in the near future.

Yulu Looks To Expand In Multiple Tier 1 Cities In The Next 15 Months

Yulu currently operates in Bengaluru, Delhi, and Mumbai. It is planning to enter other cities such as Hyderabad, Pune, Chennai, Kolkata, and Ahmedabad over the next 15 months.

Apart from these Tier 1 cities, the e-bike rental company is also exploring partnerships with local entrepreneurs in smaller markets such as Varanasi, Agra, and Goa. In other words, the company is looking at service providers that need e-bikes in large numbers and small businesses that can take up the business model in partnership with Yulu, indicated CEO Amit Gupta:

"Yulu is open to giving its technology platform to anyone who wants to run a small fleet in cities where we do not have a long-term plan to run it."

If not yet apparent, Yulu operates in the bike rental space. The company offers its e-bikes, fleet management, and presumably even fast-charging technology to businesses that offer or need last-mile delivery of their products and services.

How Does Yulu Intend To Stay Ahead Of Its Competitors?

Yulu is betting heavily on a broader Indian government push for the electrification of shared transport. It is currently relying on its tie-ups with delivery firms Zomato, Swiggy, and Zepto to stay relevant and competitive.

Although the e-bike fleet rental space is relatively new, it already has some big players such as Gogoro-backed Zypp Electric and SoftBank-backed Ola Electric. Yulu's products and services are being used by more than 50,000 delivery executives and the company plans to add 100,000 vehicles by the end of the current fiscal year.

Yulu's bikes are made by Bajaj Auto, which exports vehicles to over 70 nations. To stay ahead of the competitors, Yulu is planning to expand in countries such as Thailand and Indonesia, where "EV is a policy".