India’s largest electrified share mobility provider, Yulu, has received a $77-million investment from Magna. Although the main focus of the investment will be to create a battery-swapping service company, Magna will also have a stake in Yulu and hold a seat on its board of directors. Yulu is India’s largest electrified shared mobility provider and deploys shareable, low-speed, electric two-wheelers to offer accessible and sustainable urban mobility in the country.
“This is an incredibly exciting time for Magna to contribute to a sustainable future in urban mobility through this investment in Yulu,””said Matteo Del Sorbo, Executive Vice President, Magna International and Global Lead for Magna New Mobility. “Micromobility presents a great opportunity for additional growth for Magna, and joining forces with Yulu helps us expand our business into this rapidly growing sector.”
The new entity is currently registered as Yulu Energy and Magna will bring its expertise in design, engineering, and manufacturing to the table. As a result of the investment, Magna will be the exclusive battery-swapping provider for Yulu’s customers and will be tasked with managing the future buildup of the infrastructure that is necessary to swap millions of batteries per week. Currently, Yulu has about 10,000 electric-powered two-wheelers in service across Bangalore, Delhi, and Mumbai. The company is aiming to enter the market in an additional 15 cities over the next 18 months and hasn’t ruled out the possibility of expanding beyond India in the future.
The investment aligns with Magna’s core competencies and Go-Forward strategy to expand in Mobility-as-a-Service (MaaS) and Battery-as-a-Service (BaaS) businesses. It also allows Magna entry into one of the fastest growing markets in the electrified two-wheel mobility segment.
“We can clearly see a significant growth opportunity for Yulu in both the BaaS and MaaS businesses in the next three to four years,” said Amit Gupta, Co-founder and CEO, Yulu. “As the market leader in electric mobility, with a proven business model built on positive unit economics, our focus now will be to establish a robust and agile supply chain and scale-up our operations. We will go deeper and denser in our existing markets and explore new areas while delivering a great customer experience. We welcome Magna onboard with our shared vision to create a sustainable and scalable EV ecosystem in India and beyond.”
