Yulu Bike begins pilot in Delhi by going live in Connaught Place

Solving micro-mobility challenges in metros has been tried by some global players, including Ofo and Mobike in India. However, Ofo had already bowed out of the country, and the latter has failed to scale since its launch.

Realising last-mile commute is a huge challenge, local startups such as Yulu, Zoomcar's Pedl, Ola's Pedal and Mobicy have been working for quite some time. While global players (primarily Chinese) almost failed to take-off and others remain limited to few locations owing to regulatory and funding constraints, Yulu has managed to expand beyond its core market - Bengaluru.

After Bengaluru, Mumbai, Pune and some limited areas of Bhubaneshwar, Yulu is testing feasibility in Delhi through a pilot. The Amit Gupta-led firm was planning it for past few months and hinted of launch in Delhi NCR by the year-end.

The Bengaluru-based company has already hired a team to look after operations in Delhi (NCR)working space located near Connaught Place (CP). About 10 employees have been working for Yulu from a co-working space from CP.

Entrackr has tried to book the QR code-based dockless bicycle experience nearby Connaught Place. It's available for unlocking at multiple locations across CP.

Currently, Yulu offers two products - lithium powered scooter Yulu Miracle that can go up to 25 km top speed and smart bike Yulu Move. In Delhi, only Miracle is available at the moment. It looks like the company would add Yulu Move soon in its Delhi fleet.

Since Yulu has launched in and around CP, it's likely to begin operations in South Delhi, Delhi University and other areas with high commuters density. Going live in Gurgaon and Noida will also be on the cards.

Within two years of its journey, Yulu has deployed over 10,000 bicycles, of which 20% are electric bike - Miracle. Currently, it claims to do around 35,000 rides per day.

In Bengaluru alone, Yulu has covered 25% of the area and has 1,000 Yulu zones. The distance between two zones is 250 metres, that helps it finding a solution for first-mile, last-mile, and short-distance commutes.

Responding to an Entrackr's query, Yulu said that at present, it is doing the groundwork needed before the launch of the full-fledged services. The company is yet to launch its services in Delhi officially.

Founded by Gupta, RK Misra, Naveen Dachuri, and Hemant Gupta, the startup has raised around $7 million in funding from the likes of Blume Ventures, Binny Bansal, Naveen Tewari, and Girish Mathrubootham.

Besides, the firm was reportedly in talks with Bajaj Auto to raise about $6-8 million in the ongoing round that may go up to $15-20 million. According to Entrackr sources, Uber is likely to invest in Yulu on the lines of its investment in Lime e-bikes in the US.