Canadian automotive parts company Magna is continuing to expand its investment in India’s electric vehicle battery swapping market. According to TechCrunch, Magna has made an additional $35 million investment in Bangalore-based battery swapping company Yuma Energy to scale its swapping network for electric two-wheelers and three-wheelers.
Yuma was initially spun off from the Indian mobility company Yulu and founded in early 2023. The company states that it has completed over 60 million battery swaps to date, with approximately 100,000 batteries currently deployed across its network. With this new funding, Magna’s stake in the joint venture will rise above its previous 51%, while Yulu’s stake will be diluted; however, the latest equity percentages have not been disclosed.
Funds continue to be directed toward expanding battery swapping infrastructure.
Magna had previously established a presence in India with Yulu and Yuma. In 2022, this Canadian company committed a total of $77 million in investments to both companies, allocating $25 million to Yulu and $52 million to Yuma’s battery-swapping joint venture.
Following this additional investment, Yuma plans to allocate most of the funds toward expanding its battery swap infrastructure, aiming to double its current fleet of approximately 100,000 batteries within the next 12 to 18 months. The company also plans to enter Chennai and Pune over the next few quarters and continue expanding its station network in already covered cities.
Target high-frequency delivery riders
Yuma's core customers are high-mileage operational vehicles, particularly riders in delivery and gig economy services. The company believes that these users, who operate for long hours daily, are more sensitive to downtime, making battery swapping more suitable than fast charging.
According to the company, a battery swap can be completed in just two minutes, whereas even 20- to 30-minute fast charging forces riders to temporarily stop operations and demands higher infrastructure and electrical capacity. Yuma believes this is precisely why the battery swap model is well-suited for India’s two- and three-wheeled electric vehicle market.
Revenue growth without yet being profitable
Yuma has not yet achieved overall profitability, but the company states that some of its earlier-built battery swap stations have turned EBITDA-positive. For the fiscal year ending March 2026, the company's revenue was approximately 1 billion Indian rupees, equivalent to about $10.5 million.
Currently, Yuma operates over 400 battery swap stations and more than 2,500 charging units across 18 cities in India, including Bangalore, Hyderabad, Mumbai, and the Delhi region. The company expects to achieve EBITDA breakeven within the next two quarters.
Yulu remains Yuma’s largest customer, accounting for the majority of its cumulative battery swap volume. However, this dependency is declining. The company states that in the most recent quarter, approximately 15% to 20% of battery swap demand came from customers outside of Yulu. Yuma currently serves more than five fleets and integrates with over ten vehicle platforms, and expects the share of non-Yulu customers to rise to around 25% over the next two years.
Additional information: Yulu also completed a $93 million funding round earlier this month to expand its electric two-wheeler fleet, meaning Yuma needs to simultaneously increase its battery swap network capacity to match the growth pace of its largest customer.