Exclusive: Yulu’s valuation soars to Rs 585 Cr; projects 10.7X topline jump in FY20

Bicycle and electric scooter rental startup Yulu has announced raising Rs 30 crore in a fresh round led by Rocketship.VC. This is the second round of investment for the Bengaluru-based firm in the past eight months. It had raised $8 million from Bajaj Auto in November.

Yulu has allotted 3,370 Series A2 CCPS for Rs 66,750 per share to raise Rs 22.5 crore from Rocketship.VC., as per regulatory filings. Post allotment, Rocketship will control a 3.84% stake in the company and the promoters’ stake will be diluted to 50.76% from 52.79% in this transaction. 

The proceeds will be used for capital expenditure, marketing and overall growth. Yulu is yet to allot shares to existing investors who participated in the fresh funding round.

Backed by the likes of Blume Ventures, Binny Bansal, Naveen Tewari and Girish Mathrubootham, Yulu offers last-mile commute solutions through its lithium-powered scooters and smart bikes. The company had claimed to operate 30,000-35,000 daily rides across Bengaluru, Mumbai, Pune, and limited areas of Bhubaneswar and Delhi during the pre lockdown period.

However, akin to other mobility startups, Yulu’s business was suspended for over two months due to the nationwide lockdown. The company has started gaining business from the past three weeks after restrictions were eased.

The last reported valuation of Yulu was in January this year when the company raised its Series A round at a valuation of Rs 276 crore.  According to Fintrackr, Yulu has been valued at around Rs 585.2 crore or $78 million -  registering a mammoth 2.1X jump in its valuation in a period of six months. 

In the latest round, the share price of the company has increased by around 68% from Rs 39,812 per share to Rs 66,750. Yulu has declined to comment on its valuation.

In a separate filing, the company also submitted the provisional financial results for the first three-quarters of FY20, April-December 2019. The company generated operating revenue of Rs 6.05 crore during these nine months and were on their way to annualised operating revenue of Rs 9.12 crore during FY20. 

In comparison, the company only earned Rs 85 lakhs in operating revenue during FY19, projecting a 10.7X growth for the fiscal ended in March 2020.

Expenses in the three-quarter period were quoted at Rs 25.07 crore, annualised to Rs 38.4 crore for FY20. //The company lost heavily due to scaling expenditure and high amortisation costs for its electric scooters, with a negative profit margin of 250.8%. Total losses for the period stood at nearly Rs 18 crore and annualised to Rs 27.5 crore for FY20. 

Yulu was in the market to raise fresh funds for the past three-four months. According to Entrackr sources, the company exhausted funds raised from its Series A round quickly as it expanded and doubled down on growth. The new financing will undoubtedly extend its runway, but it may need to raise more funds this year.