Yulu, a Bangalore-based micro-mobility service provider, has announced that Rocketship.VC has invested ₹300 million (~$3.95 million) in the company. The company provides a smart rental platform for bicycles and electric bikes facilitated through a mobile app.

According to the company statement, the recent investment by the Silicon-Valley-based venture capital firm Rocketship will be used to strengthen Yulu’s platform and technology solutions that will enable it to scale services across India rapidly.

The company’s spokesperson told Mercom that so far, Yulu has raised more than $20 million (~₹1.5 billion) in funding from key investors like Bajaj Auto Ltd, Blume Ventures, 3one4 Capital, Wavemaker, and now US-based Rocketship.

“The rising trend in the use of scooters in India will continue, and two-wheelers will be more attractive targets for electrification in the short term,” the spokesperson added.

Yulu is a technology-driven mobility platform that enables urban mobility with bicycles and electric bikes through a mobile app. It enables first and last-mile connectivity that is shared and sustainable.

The company added that it had recently conducted a user survey, which revealed that safety from coronavirus is the topmost concern of commuters. Considering the present situation caused by the COVID-19 outbreak, the company states that Yulu has started working towards providing people with safe and sanitized commuting.

The impact of this can be seen post-lockdown as we have seen a surge in rides, with people opting for our single-seater and frequently sanitized vehicles, the release noted.

Recently, Euler Motors, a New Delhi-based electric vehicle manufacturer, also raised ₹200 million (~$2.66 million) as part of its ongoing Series A funding led by Inventus Capital India, a Bengaluru-based venture capital firm.

In April 2020, Mercom had reported that the sale of electric vehicles in India went up by 20% in 2019-20. The EV industry sold 156,000 electric vehicles in the financial year 2019-20. The increase of 20% came mostly from electric two-wheelers. Of the electric two-wheelers that were sold in FY19-20, 97% were electric scooters, and a very small volume of motorcycles and electric cycles filled the rest of the 3%.

As reported previously by Mercom, Budget 2020 failed to meet the expectations of the electric vehicle (EV) segment of the country. The segment’s stakeholders were expecting more measures from the government to promote electric mobility in cities. As per the Union Budget announcement, imported EVs are going to get costlier with the government increasing the customs duty on various kinds of such vehicles as the government pushes for local production. The government has allocated ₹6.93 billion (~$96.8 million) for the Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of (Hybrid) and Electric Vehicles in India (FAME-India) program for the financial year 2020-21.

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