gshc2020.com

The Series C round comprised $63 million in equity led by GEF Capital Partners and $30 million in debt financing. About $5.5 million of the equity component was used to buy shares from seed investors whose funds were nearing the end of their investment life, co-founder and CEO Amit Gupta said in an interview.

The deal valued Yulu at about $170 million post-money, people familiar with the matter told TechCrunch. Gupta declined to comment when asked about the valuation and did not dispute the figure.

Existing investors Bajaj Auto and Magna International did not participate in the round after waiving their pre-emptive rights, allowing GEF to acquire its target ownership stake, Gupta said. He added that the startup expects this to be its final equity fundraising before an eventual public listing, with future fleet expansion financed primarily through debt and lease financing.

The business moves toward becoming profitable before interest and taxes next year, after achieving positive EBITDA last financial year, Gupta told TechCrunch. The startup also grew its revenue seven-fold between fiscal 2023 and fiscal 2026, he said, without sharing specifics.

The COVID shift

Founded as a bike-sharing startup for urban commuters in 2017, Yulu found its biggest opportunity during the COVID-19 pandemic as demand for food and grocery deliveries accelerated.

Today, Gupta told TechCrunch that about 95% of Yulu’s revenue comes from renting electric bikes to gig workers on weekly subscriptions, while the rest is generated by its station‑based rental service in Bengaluru. The startup has also dropped an earlier plan to sell bikes directly to consumers.

To fuel its next growth phase, Yulu is introducing a full-sized, higher‑speed electric scooter, called Yulu Express. It is designed for longer‑haul e‑commerce deliveries, bike taxis, and express parcel services — areas that its slower fleet could not previously cover.

About a third of the planned 200,000‑vehicle fleet will be made up of this new model, Gupta said.

While Yulu’s current low‑speed fleet is built by Bajaj Auto, the new high‑speed scooter comes from a different Indian manufacturer that Gupta declined to name.

About 500 of the new bikes are already running in Bengaluru and are being trialed in three additional cities, Gupta told TechCrunch.

Currently, Yulu operates in 12 Indian cities, running its own operations in Bengaluru, Mumbai, Delhi‑NCR, and Hyderabad, while partnering with franchisees in eight other markets. The startup, Gupta said, aims to reach roughly 20 cities within the next year, with Chennai and Pune among the key targets for expansion.

Gupta stated that Yulu partners with almost every major quick‑commerce, food‑delivery, and e‑commerce platform — including Amazon and Walmart-owned Flipkart — though its customers are the gig workers who rent the bikes, not the platforms themselves. He compared Yulu’s role to “the AWS of mobility,” supplying the infrastructure that lets delivery workers operate without any third-party logistics providers taking a cut.

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Jagmeet covers startups, tech policy-related updates, and all other major tech-centric developments from India for TechCrunch. He previously worked as a principal correspondent at NDTV.

You can contact or verify outreach from Jagmeet by emailing [email protected].

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Key Facts

The Associated Press partly called the race at 8:15 pm ET, noting that Graham was advancing to the runoffs and later called that she will be joined in the runoffs by Rep. Ralph Norman, R-S.C.

With 99% of the votes counted, Graham topped the count with 32.7% of the votes, while Norman received 24.6%.

The runoff is scheduled to take place on August 25.’

Graham, who is running in a major political race for the first time, thanked President Donald Trump for his “steadfast support and his complete and total endorsement,” in a speech after the race was called.

Despite being a political newcomer, Graham touted the passage of the Russia sanctions bill in the Senate and said that some politicians “never get a major piece of their legislation passed, so I've already accomplished more in a few weeks.”

What To Watch For

During her address on Tuesday night, Graham appeared to take a shot at her rival Norman as she outlined her plan for the next two weeks and said: “I will spend the next two weeks of this runoff meeting with voters and, unlike some politicians, listening to their concerns.” When a reporter asked her if she hoped Trump would campaign for her, Graham said: “I'm hopeful that President Trump will come down, but we'll see.”

Tangent

Norman, who is a senior member of the ultra-conservative House Freedom Caucus, said he was excited to take another two weeks and get his message out all over the state. He also said he hopes to take on Graham in as many debates as possible ahead of the runoff election later this month. When Graham was asked about taking on Norman in a debate, she said: “I’ll be willing to debate him.”

what do the betting markets say?

Republicans are overwhelming favorites to win the Senate seat in the red state so the winner of the GOP runoff is expected to emerge as the race’s frontrunner. Bettors on the crypto betting platform Polymarket believe Graham has a 72% chance of securing the nomination while Kalshi’s bookmakers place odds of her winning at 73%.

further reading

Darline Graham’s Political Views Largely Unknown As She Launches Senate Campaign (Forbes) %!s()

Project Midnight is the Subaru WRX built by Vermont SportsCar specifically for tarmac attacks rather than rally racing. It's based strongly on the Airslayer STI that Pastrana drove to his previous record of 5:28.67 at the 2021 Climb to the Clouds, but that car was originally built for Gymkhana 2020 and based on a rallycross car. That made it perfect for jumping over a river, but there are no big jumps on Mount Washington. The Airslayer STI was built for one job, then modified to do another one well; Project Midnight has always been a purpose-built pavement machine. While its 670 horsepower is nothing to sneeze at, it's actually significantly down on the Airslayer STI's 862 hp. But the tarmac car also weighs 300 pounds less, under 2,500 according to Vermont SportsCar. That's even less than a Subaru BRZ.

While Scott Speed is mainly known for his Global Rallycross domination, his roots are on pavement, including NASCAR and Formula 1. After setting a Virginia International Raceway track record in the Airslayer STI, he beat it again in Project Midnight, so maybe its lower horsepower isn't as much of a factor. Speed and the Subaru also took second place overall and won fastest internal combustion car at Goodwood in 2024 and 2025.

One factor that practically guaranteed a new record had nothing to do with the car or the driver, but the mountain itself. The final dirt section of the Mount Washington Auto Road was paved in 2022, one year after the last running of Climb to the Clouds. This guaranteed faster runs for everyone, and eliminated the need for competitors to have any dirt capability. The Airslayer STI was perfect for a mixed surface course, but Project Midnight is now the right tool for the job.

Nothing like the last minute

As one might expect, Speed was fast right out of the box in practice. On the first day, which took place on the top half of the mountain, his second run of 2:21.5 was the fastest of the day, and more than five seconds faster than Pastrana's. The second day of practice started out rainy, which slowed everyone down. Conditions dried up for the second run, where Speed set a time of 3:7.3, six seconds faster than Pastrana. It was looking good for a new record.

The weather on race day also conspired against competitors. There are good reasons why the Mount Washington Auto Road is on our list of the most dangerous roads you've ever driven. A Jalopnik editor once crashed off the mountain himself. After a weather delay, the first of two runs only went halfway up the mountain due to poor visibility at the top. They don't call it Climb to the Clouds for nothing — I've been at the summit in a cloud myself more than once. But as the saying goes, "If you don't like the weather in New England, wait a minute." At the last minute, the summit cleared enough to give just one shot at the full course. Speed seized the opportunity, and set a new record of 5:11.89 seconds.

You can see how happy he was with that result, and he has every right to be. You don't set a new record of Mount Washington every day. I also think there's still some time on the table that he can drop. I'm not knocking Scott Speed at all. This was his first time competing at Mount Washington, and there's no substitute for experience. In practice, his second runs were his fastest, which is only natural at he learns. He only got one run up the entire mountain, and I believe he would've dropped even more time given a second chance. You don't get many runs in practice or competition, and he was still optimizing his performance, dropping several seconds each time. I'm also sure he didn't want to repeat David Higgins' experience in 2017 where he crashed and lost his chance to set a new record, which teammate Pastrana promptly claimed. I'd love to see Speed return to the next Climb to the Clouds, perhaps with some upgrades to Project Midnight, and break the five minute mark. %!s()