Bajaj Auto may buy stake in e-bike platform Yulu; Carlyle likely to invest in Swiggy: Reports

Two-wheeler manufacturer Bajaj Auto is in advanced discussions to invest up to $8 million (about Rs 55.7 crore at current exchange rate) in Bengaluru-based e-bike-sharing startup Yulu Bikes Pvt. Ltd, said a media report.

Persons in the know told The Economic Times that Bajaj Auto will invest as part of the ongoing funding round worth up to $20 million.

Yulu was founded in 2017 by Amit Gupta, co-founder of mobile advertising technology unicorn InMobi, along with RK Misra, Naveen Dachuri and Hemant Gupta.

It uses Internet of Things (IoT) to offer dockless e-bikes on a pay-per-user basis. Users can unlock e-bikes by scanning QR codes on their devices. Yulu’s pickup and drop-off centres are spread across Bengaluru. Users do not need licence to ride e-bikes.

In March last year, the company raised $7 million in a seed funding round from Blume Ventures, Binny Bansal (Flipkart co-founder), Naveen Tewari (founder and CEO, InMobi) and Girish Mathrubootham (founder and CEO of Freshworks).

Last month, Yulu partnered with ride-hailing unicorn Uber to offer e-bikes to users on a pilot basis in Bengaluru. Yulu also plans to offer services in other cities.

Swiggy

Online food delivery startup Swiggy may raise up to $200 million (about Rs 1,392.4 crore at current exchange rate) from US-based private equity firm Carlyle Group, said a media report.

Persons in the know told Mint that Carlyle could invest in Swiggy at a valuation of $4.5 billion.

Run by Bengaluru-based Bundl Technologies Pvt. Ltd, Swiggy has been rapidly scaling up its operations on the back of a string of big-ticket fund-raises over the past few years.

In December, Swiggy raised $1 billion in a fresh round of funding led by South African technology conglomerate Naspers, marking one of the single-largest infusions into an Indian startup.

Swiggy’s other investors include Chinese conglomerate Tencent, Hillhouse Capital, Wellington Management Company, DST Global, Meituan Dianping  and Coatue Management.

In February, the company announced its plans to launch a new hyper-local service that will offer home delivery of groceries and other daily essentials.

Swiggy was founded in August 2014 by Sriharsha Majety, Nandan Reddy and Rahul Jaimini. Majety and Reddy are engineers from BITS-Pilani while Jaimini is a graduate from the Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur.

Apart from Zomato, Swiggy competes with FreshMenu and Foodpanda India.