After Gurugram, E-bike Startup Yulu Starts Operations in Mumbai

Yulu as part of its MoU with MMRDA on January 31, 2020, is providing a total of 500 e-bikes at 25 different locations across Mumbai.

Bengaluru-based electric bike-sharing platform Yulu has started its services in and around BKC, and Bandra East and Kurla stations in Mumbai. Backed by Bajaj Auto, the two-year-old startup had entered into a memorandum of understanding with the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) on January 31, 2020, for providing a total of 500 e-bikes at 25 different locations in these areas.

“The facility was to start by February 2020, but due to COVID-19 pandemic situation it is being operational on August 31,” MMRDA Commissioner RA Rajeev said. Further adding that the MMRDA is continuously striving to address the problems arising out of vehicular traffic in the Bandra-Kurla Complex.

Yulu plans to commence operations in these locations in a phased manner.

“To avail, the facility one has to pay Rs 5 towards unlocking charges and then Rs 1.5 for every one minute of ride. There will be facilities of monthly recharges and bonus of 20-100 percent,” MMRDA said. Initially, the fare system of the app-based service was fixed at Rs 10 for unlocking the cycle and thereafter Rs 10 per 10 minutes.

The agreement with Yulu was a part of MMRDA’s station access and mobility programme (STAMP) initiative for partnering with technology-based applications with a focus on crowd management, seamless commuter experience and the increased availability of convenient last-mile services.

This project will lead to actual deployment of solutions which will be scaled up by MMRDA for all metro lines as they get completed to provide a delightful commuting experience to Mumbaikars, Rajeev said.

According to the e-mobility startup, the partnership also aims to serve its customers during the ongoing corona crisis by offering a safe commute option in the absence of any other mode of public transport. The firms’ vehicles are sanitised several times in a day through a WHO-recommended sanitizer and the last sanitised timestamp is shown to the users on the Yulu app.

Yulu, which operates in Bengaluru and recently entered portions of New Delhi and Navi Mumbai, has so far raised about USD 15 million besides the money raised through debt.

Recently, the e-mobility service provider had announced its entry in Gurugram. Partnering with the Vatika Group – a Gurugram-based leading real estate developer, the e-bike service are being made available within the Vatika’s mega residential and integrated townships in Gurugram. In the first phase 200 electric two-wheelers – Yulu Miracle’s have been deployed in the township and the company plans to double its fleet size in the city by early 2021.

In July, the startup had announced that it had secured a fresh infusion of Rs 30 crores in equity funding led by US-based VC firm Rocketship and existing investors. The firm had stated that it intends to use the new investment for further strengthening the mobility platform, technology solutions, and enabling rapid expansion.