Yulu FY26 loss narrows 23% to Rs 97 crore on Rs 281 crore revenue
Electric mobility startup Yulu cut its FY26 loss to Rs 97 crore as revenue rose 18.6% to Rs 281 crore, with EV rental 93% of sales.
Yulu, the Bengaluru electric mobility startup, reported revenue from operations of Rs 281 crore for the year to March 2026 (FY26), up 18.6% from Rs 237 crore, and a loss of about Rs 97 crore, 23% smaller than the Rs 126 crore of FY25. Entrackr reported the numbers on 31 October 2026 from the company's filings. We found no second outlet carrying the FY26 figures, so treat them as single-source and check them against the Registrar of Companies filing.
What Yulu reported for FY26
Total expenses rose 7.4% to Rs 377 crore from Rs 351 crore, slower than revenue, so the gap between the two shrank. Entrackr calculates that Yulu spent Rs 1.34 for every rupee of operating revenue, down from Rs 1.48. The EBITDA margin, which is profit before interest, tax and depreciation as a share of revenue, improved to minus 5.89% from minus 15.41%. Yulu is still loss-making, but the loss has fallen each year.
Where the revenue comes from
Yulu rents electric bikes and scooters, mostly to delivery riders and commuters. EV rental brought in Rs 262 crore, up 30.3% from Rs 201 crore, and made up more than 93% of operating revenue. The smaller lines were mixed. Sale of goods fell 59.3% to Rs 9.2 crore, manpower services fell 57% to Rs 5.7 crore, delivery services rose more than 22 times to Rs 2.6 crore, and franchisee income rose 122% to Rs 80 lakh. The shift matters because rental is a repeat business: a bike that is rented out every day earns again, while a bike that is sold earns once. Entrackr says the company is moving from consumer rentals, which it began in 2017, towards services for businesses.
The cost side and the weak spots
Employee costs were Rs 94 crore, up 6.8%. Battery-as-a-service cost Rs 87 crore (up 3.6%), the fee for using batteries owned by others rather than buying them. Depreciation was Rs 65 crore, little changed. Other expenses jumped 34.9% to Rs 92.5 crore and finance costs rose 40.9% to Rs 15.5 crore. Entrackr's table has some oddities: it shows cost of materials at Rs 8 crore, down 60%, while the FY25 report put it at Rs 151.56 crore, which would be a far steeper fall. Cash and bank balance was only Rs 11.51 crore, against Rs 9.65 crore a year before, small next to Rs 377 crore of annual spending. Entrackr says Yulu raised $93 million in August 2026, which would explain how it can keep operating, but we have not opened a source confirming the round.
The arithmetic behind the narrowing loss
The gap between spending and earning shows how the loss shrank. In FY26 expenses of Rs 377 crore less revenue of Rs 281 crore leaves a gap of about Rs 96 crore, close to the reported loss of Rs 97 crore. In FY25 the same sum gives about Rs 114 crore, while the reported loss was Rs 126 crore, so other items must sit between the two figures; Entrackr does not itemise them and we have not seen the filing.
Revenue grew by about Rs 44 crore over the year, while expenses grew by about Rs 26 crore. Put another way, roughly 60 paise of each extra rupee of revenue was absorbed by extra cost, and the remaining 40 paise or so went to closing the gap. That is a healthy direction for a growing business, but it is a long way from break-even: at this pace the gap shrinks by around Rs 18 crore a year, and the simulator below shows how sensitive the outcome is to the growth rates you choose.
A rough per-vehicle view is possible if you accept Entrackr's fleet figure of about 50,000. Rs 262 crore of EV rental spread over 50,000 vehicles is roughly Rs 52,000 per vehicle a year, or about Rs 4,400 a month. Battery-as-a-service cost of Rs 87 crore would be about Rs 17,000 per vehicle a year. This is illustrative arithmetic only: the fleet size is a company figure, it may be a year-end count rather than an average, and not every vehicle is rented every day.
What we do not know yet
The report is the only source we found for the FY26 figures. We do not know the reason behind the jump in other expenses or finance costs, how much of the August 2026 funding has been received, or how the fleet was utilised through the year. The odd cost-of-materials figure also needs the filing to resolve. Until a second outlet or the Registrar of Companies record confirms the numbers, treat the direction of travel as more reliable than any single line.
How to read the EBITDA margin
EBITDA is profit before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation, so it shows whether the day-to-day operation earns more than it spends before the cost of money and ageing assets. Yulu's reported margin of minus 5.89% means it lost about Rs 6 on every Rs 100 of revenue at that level, an improvement from losing about Rs 15 in FY25. The much larger loss of Rs 97 crore is mostly what sits below that line: Rs 65 crore of depreciation and Rs 15.5 crore of finance costs. For a business that owns or leases thousands of vehicles, depreciation is a real cost, because every bike wears out and must eventually be replaced. A company can look close to break-even on EBITDA and still lose money overall, so both numbers are worth reading together.
What it means for readers
For founders in asset-heavy businesses, Yulu shows the path many take: revenue grows, the cost per rupee of sales falls and the loss shrinks, but the business still needs outside money until the margin turns positive. For investors reading private filings, the useful numbers are the cost per rupee of revenue and the EBITDA margin, because they show direction even when the loss remains. For lenders, a company with Rs 11.5 crore of cash and Rs 15.5 crore of finance cost depends on its funding rounds to repay debt. Entrackr reports a fleet of about 50,000 vehicles, plans to expand to roughly 20 cities in a year and a target of 200,000 vehicles by 2028; these are company targets, not forecasts we can check.
Try your own growth rates in the simulator below to see how quickly the gap could close. The default rates are Yulu's FY26 growth; they are an example, not a prediction.
What to watch next
Watch for Yulu's formal announcement of the August 2026 funding and any FY27 targets, and for its expansion beyond the current cities. Quarterly numbers are not published by the private company, so the next hard data will be the FY27 filing in late 2027, unless it files for an IPO sooner.
Key takeaways
- Yulu's FY26 revenue rose 18.6% to Rs 281 crore and its loss fell 23% to about Rs 97 crore, according to a single Entrackr report.
- EV rental provided more than 93% of operating revenue, growing 30.3% to Rs 262 crore.
- Expenses rose only 7.4%, taking the cost per rupee of revenue down to Rs 1.34 from Rs 1.48.
- Cash of Rs 11.51 crore is small against Rs 377 crore of yearly expenses, and some figures in the report look inconsistent, so check the filing.
Sources
- [Entrackr: Yulu reports Rs 281 Cr revenue and Rs 97 Cr loss in FY26](https://entrackr.com/fintrackr/yulu-reports-rs-281-cr-revenue-and-rs-97-cr-loss-in-fy26-12770548)
- [Entrackr: Yulu revenue jumps 98% in FY25, losses stand at Rs 126 Cr](https://entrackr.com/fintrackr/yulu-revenue-jumps-98-in-fy25-losses-stand-at-rs-126-cr-10831384)
Tags: Yulu Startups Electric vehicles Annual results Profitability