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Electric mobility startup Yulu Bikes narrowed its losses by 23% to Rs 96.6 crore in the fiscal year ending March 2026. The improvement came as revenue from its electric vehicle rental business increased, while overall expenses grew at a slower pace than revenue. Yulu’s revenue from operations rose 18.6% to Rs 281 crore in FY26 from Rs 237 crore in FY25, according to its consolidated financial statements. Income from renting electric vehicles, its largest revenue stream, increased 30.3% to Rs 262 crore from Rs 201 crore and accounted for more than 93% of operating revenue during the fiscal year ending March 2026. Revenue from the sale of goods declined 59.3% to Rs 9.2 crore while manpower services fell 57% to Rs 5.7 crore from Rs 13.2 crore. In contrast, delivery services revenue rose more than 22X to Rs 2.6 crore. Franchisee income increased 122.2% to Rs 80 lakh from Rs 36 lakh. Yulu’s employee benefit expenses, its largest cost head, increased 6.8% to Rs 94 crore in FY26 from Rs 88 crore in FY25. Battery-as-a-service costs rose 3.6% to Rs 87 crore, while depreciation expenses declined marginally by 1.5% to Rs 65 crore. Finance costs surged 40.9% to Rs 15.5 crore, whereas the cost of materials consumed fell 60% to Rs 8 crore. Technology and infrastructure expenses increased 11.6% to Rs 15 crore. Other expenses climbed 34.9% to Rs 92.5 crore from Rs 68.56 crore in FY25. Overall, Yulu’s total expenses increased 7.4% to Rs 377 crore in FY26 from Rs 351 crore in the previous fiscal year. Bengaluru-based Yulu’s losses narrowed 23% to Rs 97 crore in FY26 from Rs 126 crore in FY25. The company also improved its operating efficiency, with expenses incurred to generate every rupee of operating revenue declining to Rs 1.34 from Rs 1.48 in the previous fiscal year. The company’s EBITDA margin improved to -5.89% in FY26 from -15.41% in FY25, while its return on capital employed (ROCE) stood at -119.29% compared with -27.26% a year earlier. Meanwhile, Yulu’s cash and bank balance increased to Rs 11.51 crore from Rs 9.65 crore, while total current assets rose to Rs 152 crore from Rs 102 crore. The financial performance comes as Yulu looks to expand its electric two-wheeler rental network. The company raised $93 million in August 2026 and currently operates a fleet of around 50,000 vehicles. It plans to expand to about 20 cities over the next year and increase its fleet to 200,000 electric vehicles by 2028. The expansion will require Yulu to scale its fleet and supporting infrastructure, including battery services, while managing the costs associated with operating a larger network. The deeper push into B2B services is clearly a more attractive and convincing proposition from the firm, which investors have backed despite the poor start with its original consumer rental model in 2017. The losses, expansion plans and rising competition indicate more funding rounds will be needed, which makes the choice of cities and cost control key to success. Gig workers power the revenue numbers so far, and there remains a strong case to look at other high usage categories to expand the market. While the journey so far has practically seen the market direct Yulu to what actually works, the next stage of the firm's growth puts the onus squarely on the founders to get it right.
document fetched 2026-11-01 02:57