Specialty coffee brand Blue Tokai Coffee Roasters’ operating revenue zoomed 69% to INR 215.8 Cr in the financial year 2023-24 (FY24) from INR 127.5 Cr in the previous fiscal year. 

The startup earned INR 201 Cr from the sale of coffee and food items in the fiscal, while its bakery business contributed INR 15 Cr. 

Total revenue, including other income, grew 72% to INR 221.1 Cr in FY24 from INR 128.7 Cr in FY23. Other income, including interest and mutual fund returns, amounted to INR 5.4 Cr.

However, the Delhi NCR-based coffee chain’s loss widened 46% to INR 62.9 Cr in FY24 from INR 43 Cr in FY23 due to rising operational costs and aggressive expansion.

Founded in 2012 by Matt Chitharanjan, Shivam Shahi and Namrata Asthana, Blue Tokai operates over 100 stores across India and recently expanded its presence in Japan through a joint venture. 

Where Did Blue Tokai Spend?

The startup’s expenses jumped 66% to INR 285 Cr in FY24 from INR 172 Cr in FY23. Here’s a breakdown of the expenses:

Procurement Costs: This was the largest expense for the startup. At INR 88 Cr, it accounted for 41% of the revenue. 

Employee Benefit Expenses: The startup’s expenses under the head zoomed 94% to INR 84 Cr from INR 43 Cr in FY23. 

Rent Expenses: The spending under the head surged 90.4% to INR 33.02 Cr in FY24 from INR 17.34 Cr in FY23

Besides, advertisement costs increased 33% to INR 7.74 Cr in FY24 from INR 5.81 Cr in FY23

The coffee chain’s EBITDA margin improved to -19.7% in FY24 from -23.2% in the previous year.

In August last year, Blue Tokai raised $35 Mn in a Series C round led by Verlinvest at a valuation of approximately INR 1,500 Cr ($180 Mn). This followed its $30 Mn Series B round led by A91 Partners in January 2023. 

Overall, it has raised about $78 Mn to date.

The startup competes in India’s growing specialty coffee market, alongside venture-backed players like Third Wave Coffee Roasters, which raised $35 Mn in September 2023. Other key competitors include SLAY Coffee, Rage Coffee, and Sleepy Owl Coffee. 

The post Blue Tokai’s FY24 Revenue Surges 69% To Cross INR 200 Cr Mark appeared first on Inc42 Media.

Insurtech company Go Digit General Insurance’s profit after tax (PAT) zoomed 176.46% to INR 118.52 Cr in the third quarter (Q3) of the fiscal year 2024-25 (FY25) from INR 42.87 Cr in the year-ago period on the back of strong growth in its revenue and controlled rise in expenses.

On a sequential basis, the listed insurtech giant’s profit surged 32.46% from INR 89.47 Cr.

Founded in 2017 by Kamesh Goyal, Go Digit General Insurance is a full-stack digital insurance company. It offers a wide range of non-life insurance policies across sectors such as motor vehicle, health, travel, and property among others.

The company reported a 10.24% increase in gross written premium (GWP) to INR 2,676.78 Cr in the quarter ended December 2024 from INR 2,427.97 Cr in Q3 FY24. Net premium written also grew 5.13% to INR 2,084.14 Cr in Q3 FY25 from INR 1,982.39 Cr in the year-ago quarter. 

To comply with the IRDAI (Actuarial, Finance and Investment Functions of Insurers) Regulations, 2024, Go Digit started recognising GWP on a 1/n basis where “n” denotes the policy duration for applicable long-term products, effective October 1, 2024.

While this resulted in a loss of 60.81 Cr in its gross premium written during the quarter under review, it had no impact on its PAT, the company said in an exchange filing.

Including other income, total revenue stood at INR 2,371.86 Cr during the quarter under review, up 7.11% from 2,214.36 Cr in Q3 FY24.

The premium retention ratio, which indicates the company’s ability to retain customers, fell to 83.8% in Q3 FY25 from 87.9% in the corresponding quarter last year.

As of December 31, 2024, Go Digit’s assets under management (AUM) stood at INR 18,939 Cr, up 20.14% from INR 15,764 Cr on March 31, 2024.

In an investor presentation, the Bengaluru-based company said that it sold 0.9 Cr policies to 6.2 Cr customers in the April-December 2024 period, taking its market share in the insurance space to 3.3%.

Third-party motor premiums remained the single-largest contributor to Go Digit’s revenue. The company earned a net premium of INR 1,385.42 Cr by selling motor insurance in Q3 FY25, up 6.25% from INR 1,303.89 Cr in the year-ago period. Go Digit claimed that its market share in the motor insurance space stood at 6.1% at the end of the December 2024 quarter.

The second biggest source of revenue for Go Digit was health insurance with the company raking in a cumulative premium of INR 438.48 Cr from this segment in the reported quarter, a jump of 21.06% from INR 362.19 Cr in Q3 FY24.

Net premium earned from crop insurance stood at INR 193.21 Cr,  premium from fire insurance came in at INR 26.56 Cr and premium earned from marine insurance stood at INR 1.29 Cr in the Q3 FY25.

Meanwhile, Go Digit’s board has promoted Atul Mehta to the role of country head for retail geographies and key investments, with effect from Thursday (January 23).

Where Did Go Digit Spend In Q3?

The listed insurtech major’s total operating expenses rose 3% YoY and 8% QoQ to INR 2,308.89 Cr in the quarter ended December 31, 2024.

Incurred Claims: The total expense under this head rose nearly 3% to INR 1,519.96 Cr in Q3 FY25 from INR 1,476.88 Cr in the same quarter last year. Sequentially, it surged almost 14% from 1,334.47 Cr.

Of this, the company spent INR 948.77 Cr towards insurance claims while it spent an additional INR 571.19 Cr on change in outstanding claims in the reported quarter. 

Employee Costs: Go Digit spent INR 86.20 Cr towards employees’ remuneration and welfare expenses in Q3 FY25, up 12% from INR 76.89 Cr in the year-ago quarter. However, employee costs declined nearly 5% quarter-on-quarter from INR 90.48 Cr.

Advertisement Expenses: The spending on business development and sales promotion initiatives grew 9.65% YoY and 28.79% QoQ to INR 104.67 Cr in the December quarter.

Go Digit also said that expenses related to the insurance business for the nine months ended December 31, 2024, were in excess of the regulatory limits, as specified under IRDAI (Expenses of Management, including commission of Insurers) Regulations, 2024.

“The company has received forbearance from IRDAI for the financial year 2023-24 via a letter dated December 27, 2024. Authority has advised the company to submit board approved, projected, quarterly EoM ratios for the financial year 2025-26 before March 31, 2025,” it further said.

Go Digit shares closed 1.85% lower at INR 286.20 apiece on the BSE on Wednesday (January 22). The company released its third-quarter results after market operating hours today.

The post Go Digit Q3 Profit Zooms 2.8X To INR 119 Cr appeared first on Inc42 Media.

Mumbai-based edtech startup LEAD School trimmed its consolidated net loss by 55.58% to INR 142.98 Cr in the financial year 2023-24 (FY24) from INR 321.95 Cr in the previous fiscal year, helped by growth in its top line and improvement in EBITDA margin.

Operating revenue jumped 28.31% to INR 350.54 Cr in the financial year ended March 31, 2024, from INR 273.19 Cr a year ago.

Founded in 2012 by Sumeet Mehta and Smita Deorah, LEAD School offers academic solutions, including devices and textbooks to its client schools. It also provides curriculum advisory and support devices to schools, pre-schools, parents and students. 

The edtech unicorn enables schools to combine technology, curriculum and pedagogy in an integrated teaching and learning system. LEAD School claims its integrated system is available to schools in over 400 towns and cities across India, reaching 5 Mn students and empowering 50K+ teachers.

The startup managed to narrow its EBITDA loss to INR 112.7 Cr in FY24 from an EBITDA loss of INR 308.2 Cr in the previous year. As a result, EBITDA margin improved to -32% during the year under review from -113% a year ago.

LEAD School generated a revenue of INR 276.10 Cr from the sale of products such as books, teaching aids and devices in FY24, whereas revenue from the sale of services stood at INR 74.43 Cr.

Including other income of INR 19.41 Cr, total revenue stood at INR 369.95 Cr during the year under review as compared to INR 295.51 Cr in FY23.

“The company has been investing in scaling up the business which is expected to result in losses for some time. Management is not reasonably certain about the year in which the company will make profits …” said LEAD School in a filing with the Ministry of Corporate Affairs.

According to Inc42 data, Lead School has raised north of $182 Mn in funding to date from marquee investors such as Elevar Equity, WestBridge Capital, GSV Ventures, among others.

Zooming Into Expenses

LEAD School’s overall expenses went down 16.93% to INR 512.94 Cr in the year ended March 2024 from INR 617.46 Cr in the previous fiscal year.

Employee Cost: The edtech startup spent INR 174.62 Cr towards employee benefits expenses during the year under review, down 38.82% from INR 285.44 Cr in FY23. It must be noted that LEAD School reduced its headcount by more than 160 in multiple rounds in FY23. 

Procurement Cost: Lead School spent INR 124 Cr for procurement of books, teaching aids and devices in FY24, an 8% decline from INR 134.8 Cr it spent a year ago.

Promotional & Publicity Expense: The spending under this expense head surged 40.78% to INR 34.52 Cr in FY24 from INR 24.52 Cr in the previous fiscal year.

The post LEAD School’s Loss More Than Halves To INR 143 Cr In FY24 appeared first on Inc42 Media.

Real money gaming startup GamesKraft’s net profit declined 10.8% to INR 946.9 Cr in the financial year 2023-24 (FY24) from INR 1,061.9 Cr in FY23 amid changes in taxation, GST notices, and legal issues.

Revenue from operations grew 30% to INR 3,474.9 Cr in FY24 from INR 2,672.7 Cr in FY23, as per the company’s filings with the Registrar of Companies.

The gaming startup’s total revenue, including other income, increased 28% to INR 3,521.4 Cr during the year under review from INR 2,732.11 Cr in FY23.

Founded in 2017 by Prithvi Raj Singh, Deepak Singh, Rajkumar Taneja, and Sindhu Devi Jha, GamesKraft operates real money gaming platforms such as RummyCulture, RummyPrime, Playship, Pocket52 and LudoCulture.

It earns most of its revenue by taking a commission or platform fee from the amount users pay to join a game or tournament. This fee is typically a percentage of the entry fee or buy-in amount. The revenue is recognised once the game or tournament is completed.

Where Did GamesKraft Spend?

GamesKraft’s total expenses saw a sharp 72% increase to INR 2,232.5 Cr in FY24 from INR 1,300.7 Cr in FY23.

Advertising Promotional Expenses: The startup’s advertising expenses saw a sharp rise of 113% to INR 1,314.82 Cr in FY24 from INR 616.62 Cr in FY23, accounting for the biggest portion of the total expenditure.

Employee Cost: The startup saw an increase of 23% to INR 462.95 Cr in FY24 from INR 374.9 Cr in FY23.

It must be noted that FY24 was the first financial year after the new GST policy came into effect for online gaming. On October 1, 2023, the finance ministry notified provisions to impose a 28% GST on online gaming.

Under the new regulations, a flat 28% tax applies to the total value of bets for online games, irrespective of whether they are games of skill or chance. Previously, a lower 18% GST was levied, specifically on the platform fee for skill-based games.

Several gaming companies, including GamesKraft, Dream11, Games24x7, and Head Digital Works, faced GST notices demanding taxes on the full value of bets placed on their platforms.

However, the Supreme Court recently issued a temporary stay on GST proceedings against 49 real-money gaming companies. This stay halts retrospective tax demands, providing temporary relief to these platforms.

The post GamesKraft’s FY24 Profit Slips 11% To INR 947 Cr appeared first on Inc42 Media.

Online B2B marketplace IndiaMART InterMESH posted a 48% jump in its consolidated net profit to INR 121 Cr in the third quarter of the financial year 2024-25 (Q3 FY25) from INR 81.9 Cr in the year-ago period on the back of healthy growth in its top line and improvement in EBITDA margin.

On a quarter-on-quarter basis, net profit declined 10.4% from INR 135.1 Cr in the July-September period.

Revenue from operations surged 16% to INR 354.3 Cr during the quarter under review from INR 305.3 Cr in the December quarter last year. Sequentially, the top line growth was muted as operating revenue rose a mere 1.9% from INR 347.7 Cr.

Founded in 1999 by Dinesh Agarwal, IndiaMART is one of the oldest internet firms in India. The company connects buyers with sellers across 58 industries and 98K product categories such as consumer electronics, chemicals & dyes, construction and raw materials, clothing and apparel, cosmetics and personal care, pharmaceuticals and automobiles among others. 

Since its listing in 2019, IndiaMART has invested in several new-age tech companies, including fintech startup Vyapar, legal tech startup Legistify, fraud detection startup IDfy, omnichannel inventory and warehouse management startup EasyEcom, HR tech startup Zimyo, logistics automation startup Fleetx, among others

Including other income of INR 44.9 Cr, the company’s total revenue stood at INR 399.2 Cr in Q3 FY25 as compared to INR 347 Cr in the same quarter last year.

The company’s EBITDA surged 61% year-on-year (YoY) to INR 138 Cr in the December quarter of the ongoing fiscal year.

In an investor presentation, IndiaMART said that its collections from customers grew 10% YoY to INR 363 Cr during the quarter under review, which primarily comprised the company’s standalone collections of INR 341 Cr and Busy Infotech’s collections of INR 17.6 Cr.  

It also registered 27 Mn unique business inquiries in Q3 FY25, registering a 17% YoY growth. Supplier storefronts and paying supplier additions were largely muted, rising 5% YoY to 8 Mn and 1% YoY to 214K, respectively in the reported quarter. Annualised revenue per paying supplier increased 14% YoY to INR 63K in Q3 FY25.

Meanwhile, deferred revenue zoomed 17% YoY to INR 1,492 Cr during the quarter under review. This primarily included IndiaMART’s standalone deferred revenue of INR 1,430 Cr and Busy Infotech’s revenue of INR 57.3 Cr.

Where Did IndiaMART Spend In Q3?

IndiaMART managed to trim its overall expenses by nearly 2% to INR 226.1 Cr in the quarter ended December 31, 2024, from INR 230.2 Cr in the same quarter last year. However, total expenditure rose 1.3% from INR 223.2 Cr on a sequential basis.

Employee Benefits Expense: This was the biggest expense head for the ecommerce unicorn during the quarter under review. The spending under this bucket rose 10.4% to INR 153 Cr in Q3 FY25 from INR 138.5 Cr in the year-ago quarter. On a QoQ basis, it went up 3.8% from 147.4 Cr.

Other Expenses: IndiaMART managed to bring down its spending in this bracket declined 22.3% to INR 63 Cr in the reported quarter from INR 81.1 Cr in the December quarter last year. On a QoQ basis, the spending under this head fell 4.1% from INR 65.7 Cr. However, the company did not share a breakup of these expenses.

Inc42 reported earlier that IndiaMART is set to purchase an additional stake in Mobisy Technologies, which operates SaaS startup Bizom, for a cash consideration of INR 14.3 Cr.

Shares of IndiaMART closed Tuesday’s trading session 1.09% higher at INR 2293.40 apiece on the BSE.

The post IndiaMART Q3 Profit Surges 48% YoY To INR 121 Cr appeared first on Inc42 Media.

Zomato’s quick commerce arm Blinkit’s adjusted EBITDA loss surged about 13X to INR 103 Cr in the third quarter of FY25 (Q3 FY25) from INR 8 Cr in the preceding quarter, amid rising competition.

On a year-on-year basis, its adjusted EBITDA loss grew 15.7% from INR 89 Cr in Q3 FY24.

In the company’s shareholder letter, Zomato CEO Deepinder Goyal attributed the rise in the adjusted EBITDA loss to upfront investments made by the quick commerce arm.

“The losses in our quick commerce business this quarter are largely on account of pulling forward the growth investments in the business that we would have otherwise made in a staggered manner over the next few quarters,” Goyal said.

Because of this investment, the CEO said that Blinkit is likely to achieve its target of opening 2,000 dark stores by December 2025, a year earlier than its previous target of December 2026. 

Notably, the company crossed the 1,000-store mark in the quarter under review, adding 368 net new stores in the last two quarters.

As a result, Blinkit’s revenue jumped 120% to INR 1,399 Cr in Q3 FY25 from INR 644 Cr in the year-ago quarter. On a sequential basis, it grew about 21% from INR 1,156 Cr. 

However, Blinkit CEO Albinder Dhindsa said that competition temporarily stalled margin expansion but also noted that there was no attrition among core customers. 

Looking ahead, Zomato CFO Akshant Goyal anticipates Blinkit’s gross order value (GOV) growth to exceed 100% for FY25 and FY26. 

Akshant believes that mature stores will drive profitability as the network stabilises.

“Once we come out from this period of expansion, the business is likely to turn sharply from being loss making to becoming meaningfully profitable as a larger part of our business starts comprising mature stores compared to newly added ones,” said Akshant. 

Meanwhile, Zomato saw its consolidated net profit slump 57.2% to INR 59 Cr in Q3 FY25 from INR 138 Cr in the year-ago quarter due to a slowdown in the food delivery segment and rising competition in quick commerce.

On a sequential basis, profit declined 66% from INR 176 Cr.

Shares of Zomato ended Monday’s (January 20) trading session 3.14% lower at INR 240.95 on the BSE.

Editor’s Note: The story has been edited to correct the increase in adjusted EBITDA loss.

The post Blinkit’s Q3 Adjusted EBITDA Loss Surges To INR 103 Cr appeared first on Inc42 Media.

Foodtech major Zomato’s consolidated net profit slumped 57.2% to INR 59 Cr in the third quarter of the financial year 2024-25 (Q3 FY25) from INR 138 Cr in the year-ago quarter due to a slowdown in the food delivery segment and rising competition in quick commerce.

On a sequential basis, profit slumped 66% from INR 176 Cr.

However, operating revenue surged over 64% to INR 5,405 Cr during the quarter under review from INR 3,288 Cr in the same quarter last year. Sequentially, it rose 12.6% from INR 4,799 Cr.

Including other income of INR 252 Cr, total revenue stood at INR 5,657 Cr in Q3 FY25 as compared to INR 3,507 Cr in Q3 FY24.

Consolidated adjusted EBITDA (excluding ESOP cost) soared 120% year-on-year (YoY) to INR 285 Cr, primarily led by an improvement in food delivery adjusted EBITDA margin (as a percentage of GOV) to 4.5% compared to 3% a year ago.

However, on a quarter-on-quarter basis, consolidated adjusted EBITDA declined 14% largely due to accelerated investments in the expansion of its quick commerce dark store network, where losses surged by INR 95 Cr sequentially.

The Deepinder Goyal-led company saw healthy growth across all business verticals. The gross order value (GOV) of the food delivery business surged 17% to INR 9,913 Cr in Q3 FY25 from INR 8,486 Cr in the year-ago period. 

However, on a quarter-on-quarter basis, the growth was muted as GOV rose a mere 2% from INR 9,690 Cr. The company attributed this to the ongoing broad-based slowdown in demand, which started during the second half of November.

Meanwhile, quick commerce arm Blinkit’s GOV skyrocketed 120% to INR 7,798 Cr during the quarter under review from INR 3,542 Cr in Q3 FY24. Sequentially, it surged 27% from INR 6,132 Cr.

Amid Zomato’s continued push for its going-out business, the vertical registered the biggest 191% YoY and 35% QoQ surge at INR 2,495 Cr in the quarter ended December 31, 2024. It must be noted that this includes the impact of the acquisition of Paytm’s entertainment ticketing business. 

On a like-for-like basis (excluding the acquired business), the GOV of Zomato’s going-out grew 53% YoY and 52% QoQ.

Overall, the GOV of Zomato’s B2C business grew 57% YoY and 14% QoQ to INR 20,206 Cr in the reported quarter. 

Amid rising demand for 10-minute food delivery, Zomato recently launched ‘Bistro’ targeting a large in-office market wanting quick access to snacks, meals and beverages.

In a shareholders’ letter, Goyal said that the company has also launched a new feature enabling restaurants listed on Zomato to offer food delivery services in under 15 minutes by curating their menu items and providing a dedicated delivery fleet. This quick delivery feature is currently available in select locations and will be scaled over time.

Zooming Into Expenses

Delivery & Related Charges: Zomato spent INR 1,450 Cr under this head during the quarter under review, up 33% from INR 1,088 Cr in the December quarter last year. Sequentially, the spending under this bucket rose a little under 4% from INR 1,398 Cr.

Procurement Cost: Zomato’s expenses in this bracket surged nearly 92% to INR 1,500 Cr in Q3 FY25 from INR 782 Cr in the year-ago quarter. On a QoQ basis, the company saw an 11% rise in procurement costs from INR 1,354 Cr.

Employee Cost: Total employee benefit expenses grew 63% to INR 689 Cr in Q3 FY25 from INR 423 Cr in the corresponding quarter last year. This expense head also saw a 17% QoQ increase from INR 590 Cr.

Ad & Sales: The food delivery and quick commerce major continued to ramp up its investment for promoting its business during the December quarter, which led to a 39% increase in expenses in this bracket to INR 521 Cr in Q3 FY25 from INR 374 Cr in the year-ago period.

Shares of Zomato ended Monday’s trading session 3.14% lower at INR 240.95 apiece on the BSE.

The post Zomato Q3 Profit Slumps 57% YoY To INR 59 Cr appeared first on Inc42 Media.

Fintech major Paytm narrowed its consolidated net loss by 6% to INR 208.5 Cr in the December quarter of the financial year 2024-25 (Q3 FY25) from INR 221.7 Cr in the same quarter last year on the back of recovery in its digital payments business.

It must be noted that the Vijay Shekhar Sharma-led company had posted a net profit of INR 930 Cr in the quarter ended September 30, 2024 on account of the sale of its movie and events ticketing business to foodtech major Zomato.

Revenue from operations declined 36% to INR 1,827.8 Cr during the quarter under review from INR 2,850.5 Cr in the year-ago period. However, it rose 10% from INR 1,659.5 Cr on a quarter-on-quarter basis, driven by growth in its payments and financial services businesses.

Including other income of INR 188.7 Cr, total revenue stood at INR 2,016.5 Cr in the quarter ended December 31, 2024, as compared to INR 2,999.1 Cr in the same quarter last year.

Paytm managed to trim its adjusted EBITDA loss (excluding ESOP cost) by 78% to INR 41 Cr in Q3 FY25 from a loss of INR 186 Cr in the September quarter.

Segment Revenue

Revenue from the payment services business surged 9% to INR 1,059 Cr in Q3 FY25 from INR 981 Cr in the quarter ended September 30, 2024, on the back of an increase in gross merchandise value (GMV) and merchant subscriptions. 

GMV surged 13% to INR 5 Lakh Cr during the quarter under review from 4.5 Lakh Cr in Q2 FY25, partly boosted by the festive season. Paytm reported a 10% YoY and 5% QoQ rise in merchant subscriptions (including devices) to INR 1.17 Cr for the quarter ended December 31, 2024.

“New subscription paying device merchant sign ups continue to see strong growth with gross device additions in Q3 FY 2025 comfortably surpassing January 2024 run-rate,” said Paytm in its earnings statement.

Paytm also earns revenue from its financial services such as loans, stock broking and insurance. Revenue from this segment surged 34% to INR 502 Cr during the quarter under review from INR 376 Cr in Q2 FY25, led by a higher share of merchant loans, higher trail revenue from the default loss guarantee portfolio and improvement in collections.

Another source of revenue for Paytm is its marketing services business, which primarily includes advertising, travel ticketing, credit card distribution and deals & gift vouchers. Revenue from this segment stood at INR 267 Cr in Q3 FY25 as against INR 268 Cr (excluding the entertainment ticketing business) in Q2 FY25.

One of the key drivers for growth in marketing services revenue, Paytm said, was the increase in monthly transacting users (MTU), which rose to 7.2 Cr in December 2024 from a low of 6.8 Cr in September 2024 as the company began onboarding new UPI customers following approval from NPCI.

Where Did Paytm Spend In Q3?

The listed fintech major managed to bring down its overall expenses by 31% to INR 2,219.8 Cr in Q3 FY25 from INR 3,216.3 Cr in the corresponding quarter last year.

Employee Benefits Expense: Employee cost (excluding ESOP) declined 6% QoQ and 29% YoY to INR 575 Cr in Q3 FY25 as Paytm continued to leverage artificial intelligence to improve productivity across businesses.

Additionally, the company spent INR 182 Cr in ESOP costs in the reported quarter, down 16.5% from INR 218 Cr in Q2 FY25.

Payment Processing Charges: The spending under this expense head fell 42% to INR 570.4 Cr in Q3 FY25 from INR 982.2 Cr in Q3 FY24. Sequentially, it rose 10% from INR 516.8 Cr.

Marketing And Promotional Expenses: Paytm spent INR 140.9 Cr towards marketing initiatives in Q3 FY25, a 49% decrease from INR 275.2 Cr in the corresponding quarter last year.

Paytm is selling its entire 100% stake in its wholly owned subsidiary Xceed IT Solutions for INR 60,728 in an all-cash deal.

Incorporated in 2005, Xceed IT Solutions is a wholly owned subsidiary of Mobiquest Mobile Technologies Private Limited, which operates in the field of information technology, specifically engaged in computer programming, consultancy, and related activities. 

Shares of Paytm were trading 0.82% lower at INR 907 apiece on the BSE at 2:06 PM.

The post Paytm Narrows Net Loss To INR 208.5 Cr In Q3 appeared first on Inc42 Media.

Fintech company Jio Financial Services (JFS) posted a consolidated net profit of INR 294.78 Cr in the third quarter of the financial year 2024-25 (Q3 FY25), a mere 0.3% increase from INR 293.82 Cr in the year-ago quarter. 

Sequentially, net profit plunged 57% from INR 689.07 Cr. 

JFS’ revenue from operations rose 5.7% to INR 438.35 Cr during the quarter under review from INR 414.33 Cr in Q3 FY24. On a quarter-on-quarter basis, the number declined 36.8% from INR 693.50 Cr. 

Including other income of INR 10.54 Cr, the fintech company’s total revenue for Q3 FY25 stood at INR 448.89 Cr. 

Total expenses went up 32.1% to INR 130.75 Cr in Q3 FY25 from INR 98.95 Cr in the year-ago quarter. However, expenses slid 32.3% on a QoQ basis from INR 146.07 Cr. 

The company’s impairment expenses surged to INR 12.3 Cr from INR 24 Lakh in the year-ago quarter. Employee benefit expenses increased to INR 53.5 Cr from INR 33.8 Cr in the corresponding quarter of the previous year.

Jio Finance, Jio Payments Bank See Steady Growth

Carved out from Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) in 2023, the fintech company houses consumer-facing entities like Jio Finance, Jio Insurance Broking, Jio Payment Solutions, Reliance Industrial Investments and Holdings under its umbrella, and the most recent one – Jio Finance Platform and Service. 

It also has other entities like Jio Leasing Services, Jio Payments Bank Limited and three entities with a joint venture (JV) with American investment major Blackrock. 

Jio Finance, the NBFC arm of the company, had assets under management (AUM) of about INR 4,199 Cr as of quarter ended December 2024, an increase of 248% from INR 1,206 Cr in the previous quarter. 

The NBFC’s portfolio includes loans against mutual funds, home loans, loans against property (LAP), and loans on securities. It has presence in 7 cities in India with 9 offices. 

Meanwhile, Jio Payments Bank had 1.89 Mn CASA customers, i.e., customers with either current or saving accounts, as of December 2024. 

The company said that it is expanding its bank representative network as well. During the quarter under review, it had 7,300 representatives.

Meanwhile, Jio Payments Solutions has also been integrated with JioBharat phones to onboard small merchants. It also received payment aggregator licence from the RBI during the quarter under review. 

The company said that Jio Payments Solutions now has direct integrations with 10 banks, enabling it to offer net banking/cards services at competitive rates. 

It has also upgraded to a cloud-native, SaaS-based platform with all payment product features. 

Meanwhile in the insurance space, Jio Insurance Broking has now 54 plans in five product categories like auto, two wheeler, health and life (term and non-term). It has also included new embedded insurance products like solar panel insurance, cyber protection, credit life, property insurance and health insurance. 

Jio BlackRock Asset Management Seeks SEBI Approval

JFS has three joint ventures (JVs) with Blackrock – Jio BlackRock Investment Advisers for wealth management and Jio BlackRock Asset Management and Jio BlackRock Trustee in the asset management space.

In the quarterly filing, JFS said that Jio BlackRock Asset Management filed for final approval from SEBI in December. 

“The application for final approval of registration with SEBI has been made on December 12, 2024, which is under consideration as on date,” the company. 

This comes after it got an in-principle approval from the markets regulator in the preceding September quarter. 

Giving an update on the JV, the company said that its senior leadership and core business teams buildout is in advanced stages. Besides, it is building a unified investment platform for the JV. 

Meanwhile, Jio BlackRock Investment Advisers Private Ltd was incorporated during the quarter under review to offer wealth management services. Last month, JFS named company insider George Heber Joseph as the first chief investment officer of Jio BlackRock Investment Advisers.

Shares of JFS ended Friday’s trading session 0.83% higher at INR 279.05 on the BSE. 

The post Jio Financial Services’ Q3 Profit Flat At INR 295 Cr appeared first on Inc42 Media.

Digital and new commerce businesses accounted for 18% of the total revenue of Reliance Retail in the third quarter (Q3) of the financial year 2024-25 (FY25). 

Overall, Reliance Retail’s operating revenue jumped 7% to INR 79,595 Cr during the quarter under review from INR 74,373 during the corresponding quarter last fiscal. Net profit rose 10% to INR 3,458 Cr from INR 3,145 Cr in Q3 FY24. 

On a sequential basis, net profit grew 21.9% from INR 2,836 Cr and operating revenue rose 19.6% from INR 66,502 Cr. 

“… (the) retail segment delivered a strong performance, with noteworthy contribution(s) from all formats. The business ably capitalised on the pick-up in consumption amid festive demand during the quarter,” said Reliance Industries Ltd’s (RIL) chairman and managing director Mukesh Ambani.

The conglomerate said that its new commerce offering, JioMart, expanded its product range with a 33% year-on-year (YoY) increase in the seller base. RIL also said that JioMart continued to scale its express delivery proposition and saw a robust growth in its performance parameters. 

According to the company, the express delivery model takes help from the company’s existing infrastructure of 2,100 stores. It also added that the express delivery is available in 4,000 pincodes in categories like grocery, general merchandise, electronics, fashion, among others. 

“… We are creating through JioMart – express deliveries, scheduled deliveries coupled with Milkbasket – subscription services, a seamless shopping experience that serves diverse customers across all categories and catchment,” said Isha Ambani, executive director of Reliance Retail Ventures. 

The company also added that Milkbasket saw a 20% YoY growth in its monthly active users and 24% YoY growth in gross merchandise value (GMV).  

Reliance said its flagship fashion ecommerce brand AJIO onboarded 1.9 Mn new customers during the quarter ended December 2024. Its average basket value (ABV) grew 7% YoY. “The platform (AJIO) expanded its product catalogue to 2.2 Mn, up 33% YoY adding over half a Mn new options during this year,” the company said in a statement. 

Meanwhile, RIL’s digital arm Jio Platforms saw a 26% increase in its consolidated net profit to INR 6,861 Cr in Q3 FY25 from INR 5,447 Cr in the year-ago quarter.

The post Reliance Retail Q3: Digital & New Commerce Business Account For 18% Of Revenue appeared first on Inc42 Media.

Accel-backed wealthtech startup Dezerv’s operating revenue surged 157% to INR 26.25 Cr in the financial year 2023-24 (FY24) from INR 10.20 Cr in the previous fiscal year.

Founded in 2021 by Sahil Contractor, Sandeep Jethwani and Vaibhav Porwal, Dezerv is a wealth management platform. It provides customised investment solutions, particularly targeting senior working professionals and high-net-worth individuals, across multi-assets and vehicles, including alternative and the new asset class.

The startup claims to have managed assets worth over INR 6,000 Cr since its inception.

Despite the growth in its top line, Dezerv’s consolidated net loss rose 95% to INR 74.53 Cr during the year under review from INR 38.20 Cr in FY23, on account of a sharp increase in its expenses.

The Premji Invest-backed startup posted an EBITDA loss of INR 70.4 Cr in FY24 as against an EBITDA loss of INR 36 Cr in FY23. Its EBITDA margin stood at -268% in FY24 compared to -353% in FY23.

In July last year, Dezerv raised $32 Mn in its Series B funding round, led by Premji Invest, at a valuation of $200 Mn. The round also saw participation from existing investors Accel, Elevation Capital and Matrix Partners.

As per Inc42 data, Dezerv has raised a total funding of $60 Mn to date. It counts the likes of Whiteboard Capital, Blume Founders Fund, CRED founder Kunal Shah, ACKO founder Varun Dua, Meesho founder Vidit Aatrey, and OfBusiness founder Ashish Mohapatra among its investors. 

Where Did Dezerv Spend In FY24?

Amid a surge in its revenue, Dezerv’s total expenditure shot up 108% year-on-year to INR 100.84 Cr in the year ended March 31, 2024. It had incurred expenses of INR 48.42 Cr in the previous year.

On a unit economics basis, Dezerv spent INR 3.82 to earn every rupee in FY24.

Employee Benefit Expenses: This was the biggest expense head for the wealth management startup during the year under review. Employee costs skyrocketed almost 114% to INR 63.34 Cr in FY24 from INR 29.65 Cr in FY23, indicating that it increased its headcount during the year.

Advertising Promotional Expenses: The spending under this bucket grew more than threefold to INR 18.48 Cr in FY24 from INR 6.15 Cr in the previous year.

Information Technology Expenses: The wealthtech startup’s IT expenses surged nearly 106% to INR 3.50 Cr during the year under review from INR 1.70 Cr in FY23.

The post Dezerv’s FY24 Revenue Zooms 157% YoY To INR 26 Cr appeared first on Inc42 Media.

Bengaluru-based insurtech unicorn ACKO managed to trim its consolidated net loss by 9% to INR 669.98 Cr in the financial year 2023-24 (FY24) from INR 738.55 Cr in the previous year on the back of strong growth in its top line and improvement in EBITDA margin.

ACKO’s operating revenue crossed the INR 2,000 Cr mark in the year ended March 31, 2024. The digital insurance policy provider clocked sales of INR 2,106.25 Cr in FY24, a 20% jump from INR 1,758.64 Cr in the previous year.

Including other income of INR 53.95 Cr, total revenue shot up 20% to INR 2,160.20 Cr during the year under review from INR 1,796.81 Cr in FY23.

The digital insurance policy provider reported an EBITDA loss of INR 650.2 Cr in FY24 compared to an EBITDA loss of INR 728.6 Cr a year ago. As a result, the EBITDA margin improved 10 percentage points to -31% during the year under review, compared to -41% in the previous year.

Founded in 2016 by Varun Dua and Ruchi Deepak, ACKO sells automobile, health, and travel insurance on its platform. The startup also forayed into the life insurance space last year. 

ACKO raised $255 Mn in its Series D round, led by General Atlantic and Multiples Private Equity Fund, in 2021 at a unicorn valuation. The startup has raised a total funding of $458 Mn to date.

ACKO competes against the likes of Policybazaar, Go Digit, and InsuranceDekho, besides other established players like the LIC in India’s insurance sector. 

Breakdown Of Operating Revenue

Being a digital-first insurance policy company, ACKO primarily earns revenue from the premium it collects from policyholders for protection against risk. Gross premium income stood at INR 1,586.77 Cr in FY24, up 32% from INR 1,184.95 Cr in the previous year.

Another source of revenue for ACKO is recoveries from reinsurers. ACKO reported a 26% decline in recoveries from reinsurers to INR 292.93 Cr in FY24 from INR 398.29 Cr in FY23.

The insurtech startup also earns revenue from service contracts, commission fees, and investments.

Zooming Into Expenses

Amid a strong growth in its operating revenue, ACKO saw a 12% increase in its overall expenditure to INR 2,830.18 Cr in the year ended March 2024 from INR 2,535.36 Cr last year.

Miscellaneous Expenses: This was the biggest expense head for ACKO during the year under review. The spending under this head rose over 4% to INR 1,519.14 Cr in FY24 from INR 1,452.76 Cr in the previous year. 

This largely comprised call centre charges of INR 32.51 Cr, claims paid worth INR 829.83 Cr, gross change in claims outstanding during the year to the tune of INR 267.80 Cr, and premium on reinsurance receded of INR 363.75 Cr. 

Employee Benefit Expenses: Employee costs remained largely unchanged at INR 354.63 Cr during the year under review compared to INR 349.34 Cr in FY23. However, employee share-based payment (ESOP) expenses declined 2.4X to INR 36.63 Cr in FY24 from INR 87.22 Cr in the previous year. 

Advertising Promotional Expenses: ACKO saw a marginal rise in its business promotion expenses to INR 562.73 Cr in FY24 from INR 559.20 Cr a year ago.

The post ACKO’s Revenue Jumps 20% To Cross INR 2,000 Cr Mark In FY24 appeared first on Inc42 Media.

Digital banking startup Freo narrowed its net loss by 64.54% to INR 14.16 Cr in the financial year 2023-24 (FY24) from INR 39.94 Cr in the previous year, on the back of improvement in its EBITDA margin.

Revenue from operations rose 11% to INR 111.46 Cr in the financial year ended March 2024 from INR 99.80 Cr in the previous year. 

The startup reported an EBITDA loss of INR 12.3 Cr during the year under review as against an EBITDA loss of INR 36.6 Cr in FY23. As a result, EBITDA margin improved 26 percentage points to -11% in FY24 from -37% last year.

Founded by Kunal Varma, Anuj Kacker, and Bala Parthasarathy in 2015, Freo previously operated under the name MoneyTap. Later, MoneyTap became a part of Freo, a digital banking . platform. It provides credit under the name MoneyTap. 

The neobanking startup offers a range of products such as personal credit line, cards, loans, bill payments, credit on UPI, digital savings accounts, deposits, insurance solutions, and financial utilities.

In October last year, the Bengaluru-based startup forayed into the insurance space after receiving a corporate agent licence from the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI). 

As a digital banking firm, Freo primarily earns revenue from the sale of services. This includes income generated from technology development services, credit processing services, credit line setup services, portfolio linked services, commission, strategic marketing services, service fee, among others. 

The revenue from this segment grew almost 9% to INR 99.54 Cr during the year under review from INR 91.60 Cr in the previous year.

Other operating revenue jumped 45% to INR 11.92 Cr in FY24 from INR 8.20 Cr in the previous fiscal year. 

Where Did Freo Spend In FY24?

The digital banking startup managed to bring down its expenses by 10.28% to INR 125.58 Cr from INR 139.97 Cr in FY23. 

Employee Benefit Expenses: The spending under this head declined 15.14% to INR 39.56 Cr in FY24 from INR 46.62 Cr in the previous fiscal year. 

Information Technology Expenses: Freo spent INR 4.30 Cr under this head in FY24, up 18.78% from INR 3.62 Cr last year.

Miscellaneous Expenses: The startup reported a 6.38% decline in its miscellaneous expenses to INR 73.26 Cr during the year under review from INR 78.26 Cr in the previous year. This was the biggest expense head for Freo during the year under review. However, it did not give a breakdown of these expenses.

Freo is among the growing list of startups looking to shift their domicile back to India as it looks to capitalise on India’s booming economy, access to a deeper pool of investors, better initial public offering (IPO) prospects, among others. 

In February 2024, Freo raised an undisclosed amount of debt from Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI).

The post Freo’s FY24 Loss Declines 65% To INR 14 Cr appeared first on Inc42 Media.

Reliance Retail-owned hyperlocal search engine Justdial’s net profit surged 42.7% to INR 131.50 Cr in the quarter ended December 31, 2024 (Q3 FY25) from INR 92.11 Cr in the same quarter last year. 

However, profit declined 14.3% on a sequential basis from INR 153.52 Cr. 

Justdial’s top line expanded both on a year-on-year (YoY) and quarter-on-quarter (QoQ) basis. The company’s net revenue from operations stood at INR 287.33 Cr in Q2 FY25, up 8.4% YoY and 0.9% QoQ.  The company claims that this is its “highest ever” quarterly revenue. 

Including other income of INR 77.41 Cr, the company’s total income for the quarter stood at INR 364.74 Cr.

Its EBITDA rose 43.4% YoY to INR 86.6 Cr, while EBITDA margin expanded to 30.1% from 22.8% in the year-ago quarter. 

Further, Justdial said that its total traffic in the quarter rose 15.3% YoY to 19.12 Cr. However, it declined 3.5% QoQ. The company said this decrease was on expected lines due to “impact of festival weeks” during the quarter. 

In its reasoning for the sequential decline, Justdial said that the dip was on expected lines due to “impact of festival weeks” during the quarter. 

“Our focus remains on driving top line growth while maintaining operational efficiency, as reflected in our Q3 results. By enhancing our offerings for users and providing businesses with easy-to-use, advanced tools, we are creating sustainable growth for all stakeholders. Stories of growth of small and medium businesses through Justdial continues to inspire us to keep pushing boundaries and unlock opportunities for MSMEs,” Justdial’s chief growth officer Shwetank Dixit said. 

As of December 31, 2024, the total number of businesses listed on Justdial stood at 4.75 Cr.

This marked a 14.2% YoY and 2.8% QoQ uptick. 

The company attributed the increase in its revenue in the quarter to its focus on enriching platform content to drive traffic. It said that the quarter saw the implementation of various strategies, including creation of in-depth information, comprehensive catalogues, buying guides and price ranges for different services.

“Out of total listings, 3.18 Cr listings were geocoded as on December 31, 2024, up 20.4% YoY. Total Images in listings stood at 21.60 Cr, up 23.0% YoY and 4.6% QoQ,” the company claimed. 

In addition, the company said that it has undertaken a new sales strategy in the quarter under which it is moving away from cold calling to a targeted and multiplatform approach, using social media, email, messaging apps, and in-platform interactions to engage businesses at various stages of the buying journey. 

With this, Justdial’s aim is to achieve a cost-effective sales process by building channels of high potential leads.

A Look At Justdial’s Expenses

The company managed to trim its expenses to INR 215.57 Cr in the quarter, down 1.6% YoY and 0.6% QoQ. 

Employee Expenses: This was the biggest expense for the company. In Q3, Justdial spent INR 173.17 Cr on its employees, down 3% from INR 178.51 Cr in the year-ago quarter. 

Other Expenses: Under this head, the company’s spending rose 5.3% to INR 27.56 Cr from INR 26.17 Cr in the year-ago quarter. 

Shares of the company ended 3.75% lower than the previous close at INR 1,034.60. 

The post Justdial Q3 Profit Zooms 43% YoY To INR 131.50 Cr appeared first on Inc42 Media.

Mumbai-based electric mobility startup Magenta Mobility saw its consolidated loss after tax widen 15% to INR 47.91 Cr in the financial year 2023-24 (FY24) from INR 41.68 Cr in the previous year.

The startup saw a sharp increase in its top line, with revenue from operations zooming almost 3X to INR 35.51 Cr during the year under review from INR 11.84 Cr last year.

Including other income of INR 7.55 Cr, Magenta’s total revenue shot up 130% to INR 43.07 Cr in FY24 compared to INR 18.74 Cr in FY23.

EBITDA loss declined to INR 30.5 Cr in FY24 from an EBITDA loss of INR 35.9 Cr in the year ended March 31, 2023. As a result, EBITDA margin improved significantly to -86% during the year under review from -304% in the previous year.

Founded in 2018 by Maxson Lewis, Magenta started as a charging solution provider for electric vehicles (EVs) but gradually shifted its focus on providing vehicle fleets for last and mid-mile needs of its B2B clients across segments such as ecommerce, food, retail, FMCG, and pharma.

The startup currently operates a fleet of over 2,500 electric three-wheelers in the L5 category and aims to expand to 10,000 cargo vehicles by September 2025.

Where Did Magenta Mobility Spend In FY24?

Due to the rapid growth in its revenue, Magenta’s total expenses jumped 120% to INR 40.79 Cr in the fiscal year ended March 31, 2024, from INR 89.7 Cr in the previous year.

Employee Benefit Expenses: Magenta’s spending under this head climbed nearly 65% to INR 21.31 Cr in FY24 from INR 12.9 Cr in FY23.

 Driver Costs: The startup’s driver expenses stood at INR 18.48 Cr during the year under review, a 192% jump from INR 6.33 Cr in the fiscal year 2022-23.

Other Expenses: The spending under this head surged about 114% to INR 31.32 Cr in FY24 from INR 14.60 Cr in the previous year. However, the startup didn’t provide a breakdown of these expenses.

Magenta last raised $22 Mn (about INR 180.6 Cr) in its Series A1 funding round from bp and Morgan Stanley India Infrastructure in 2023. Overall, it has raised more than $56 Mn so far.

The post Magenta Mobility’s FY24 Loss Widens 15% To INR 48 Cr appeared first on Inc42 Media.

IPO-bound OTT streaming platform Ullu Digital’s profit after tax (PAT) declined 16% to INR 12.68 Cr in the fiscal year 2023-24 (FY24) from INR 15.14 Cr in the previous fiscal.

The decline in profit came despite an increase in its top line. Ullu’s revenue from operations rose 7% to INR 99.67 Cr during the year under review from INR 93.15 Cr in the previous fiscal year. 

Including other income of INR 51.51 Lakh, total revenue crossed the INR 100 Cr mark. 

The OTT platform filed its draft red herring prospectus (DRHP) in February 2024 for a listing on the BSE SME platform. As per the draft papers, it is looking to raise INR 135 Cr to INR 150 Cr through its initial public offering (IPO), which will solely consist of a fresh issue of 62.63 Lakh shares.

However, after filing the DRHP, the OTT platform found itself caught in regulatory issues due to its erotic content. In February last year, the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) urged the electronics and IT ministry (MeitY) to take action against the OTT platform.

In a letter to the ministry on February 27, NCPCR chairperson Priyank Kanoongo said that the ‘Ullu’ application, available on both the Play Store and the iOS, contains “extremely obscene and objectionable” content which is accessible even to children.

This triggered an investigation conducted jointly by SEBI, corporate affairs ministry, and MeitY. 

The controversy resulted in delays in Ullu’s IPO plans. Last month, its founder and CEO Vibhu Agarwal told exchange4media that the company is now expecting to go public by March 2025.

Where Did Ullu Spend?

The OTT platform’s total expenses surged 15% to INR 83.49 Cr from INR 72.33 Cr in the previous fiscal year.

Employee Benefit Expenses: Ullu’s spending on its employees rose 41% to INR 11.89 Cr from INR 8.43 Cr in the previous fiscal year.

Purchase Of Stock-in Trade: The OTT platform spent INR 27.33 Cr under the head, a decline of 13% from INR 31.54 Cr in FY23. 

Advertising Expenses: The startup cut its ad costs by 26% to INR 14.96 Cr from INR 20.14 Cr in FY23. 

Ullu competes with the likes of Amazon’s MX Player, ALTBalaji, among others, in the crowded Indian OTT market.

The post IPO-Bound Ullu’s Profit Drops 16% To INR 13 Cr In FY24 appeared first on Inc42 Media.

News aggregator platform Inshorts reduced its net loss for the financial year ending March 2024 (FY24) by 26.44% to INR 227.8 Cr from INR 309.7 Cr in FY23. 

However, the reduction in net loss came at the cost of revenue growth. The company’s operating revenue was almost stagnant at INR 181.4 Cr during the year under review as against INR 180.9 Cr in FY23, clocking a mere 0.28% growth. 

The company’s EBITDA loss decreased 45% to INR 143.3 Cr from an EBITDA loss of INR 261 Cr in FY23. This led to EBITDA margin improving to -79% in FY24 from -144% in the previous fiscal year.

Founded in 2013 by Azhar Iqubal, Anunay Arunav, and Deepit Purkayastha, Inshorts primarily summarises news across politics, sports, tech, and other areas within 60 words. Notably, the company also launched another app called Public in 2020. It is a location based social network which allows users to record and share happenings around them in video format. 

However, now the company is pivoting from its original news aggregator model to a full-fledged social media content platform by roping in influencers and creators. 

Last year, cofounder Iqubal also stepped away from the role of CEO to become a chairman. Purkayastha took over as the CEO of the 11-year old company.

In 2021, Inshorts raised a little over $100 Mn in two rounds. Its last funding round took place in July 2021, when it raised $60 Mn led by Vy Capital. Overall, it has raised a total funding of over $165 Mn+ till date and counts the likes of SIG Venture Capital, A91 Partners, and SIG Global India Fund among its investors.

Zooming Into Expenses

The company’s total expenditure for the year under review declined 16.44% to INR 411.2 Cr from INR 492.10 Cr in FY23. 

Employee Benefit Expenses: It spent INR 90.1 Cr on employee costs in FY24, an increase of 14.34% from INR 78.8 Cr in FY23.

However, as per LinkedIn, Inshorts had around 986 employees at the start of FY23, which decreased to 898 by the end of FY24. 

Advertising & Promotional Expenses: The platform managed to reduce its advertising costs by 65.09% to INR 47.2 Cr from INR 135.2 Cr in FY23. 

Miscellaneous Expenses: The startup didn’t give a breakdown of its miscellaneous expenses. However, it managed to reduce them by 26.44% to INR 227.8 Cr from INR 309.7 Cr reported in FY23. 

The post Inshorts’ FY24 Loss Declines 26% To INR 228 Cr appeared first on Inc42 Media.

D2C fashion startup The Souled Store turned profitable in the financial year ended March 2024 (FY24) on the back of a strong growth in its top line and improvement in margins. The startup posted a net profit of INR 18.2 Cr during the year under review as against a loss of INR 16.5 Cr in FY23. 

Operating revenue surged 54.26% to INR 360.2 Cr from INR 233.5 Cr in FY23. It earned INR 5.2 Cr from membership fees, while the rest of the revenue came from the sale of products. 

Founded in 2013 by Vedang Patel, Rohin Samtaney, Aditya Sharma and Harsh Lal, The Souled Store started as a branded merchandise apparel brand and later morphed into its current D2C casual wear brand form. 

It also sells products such as backpacks, sneakers, shoes and socks to customers ranging from kids to adults. 

The startup reported an EBITDA profit of INR 18.6 Cr in FY24 as against an EBITDA loss of INR 8 Cr in the previous year. EBITDA margin improved to 5% from -3% in the previous year. 

Its cash and cash equivalents stood at INR 14.4 Cr at the end of FY24 as against INR 114.1 Cr a year ago.

The Souled Store has raised a total funding of about $30 Mn to date. Most recently, it raised INR 135 Cr in 2023 in a strategic funding round led by Xponentia Capital. The round also saw participation from its existing investors Elevation Capital and RPSG Capital.

Tracking Down The Expenses

The Souled Store’s total expenses grew 40.12% to INR 354.5 Cr from INR 253 Cr in FY23. 

Employee Benefit Expenses: The D2C fashion brand spent INR 39.3 Cr under this head, an increase of 33.67% from INR 29.4 Cr in FY23. This indicates that it increased its headcount during the year under review.

According to LinkedIn data, it has increased its headcount by 23% in the last 12 months. 

Advertising & Promotional Expenses: The spending under the head rose 33.07% year-on-year to INR 68 Cr in FY24. 

Royalty Expenses: The startup attracts the Gen Z crowd by offering limited edition/ exclusive merchandise in collaboration with international movies/ webseries brands like MCU, DCU, among others. For this, it pays royalty to the brands, which rose 13.5%  to INR 13.4 Cr from INR 11.8 Cr in the previous fiscal year.

Job Work Charges: It spent INR 14 Cr under this head, a decline of 36.36% from INR 22 Cr in FY23. 

The post The Souled Store Turns Profitable In FY24, Posts INR 18.2 Cr PAT appeared first on Inc42 Media.

D2C fashion brand Snitch saw its net profit zoom 1.3X to INR 4.4 Cr in the financial year 2023-24 (FY24) from INR 3.1 Cr in FY23, on the back of a strong increase in its top line. 

The startup’s operating revenue surged 127.89% to INR 243 Cr during the year under review from INR 106.6 Cr in FY23. 

Founded in 2019 by Siddharth Dungarwal, Snitch started its journey as an offline retail brand. It pivoted to online sales a year later as stay-at-home mandates amid the pandemic shut physical retail stores across the country. 

Snitch sells a range of men’s apparels, including shirts, jackets, hoodies, co-ords, sweaters, innerwear, among others.

The startup appeared on Shark Tank India 2023, securing an all-shark deal of INR 1.5 Cr from Aman Gupta, Namita Thapar, Anupam Mittal, Peyush Bansal, and Vineeta Singh. 

It last raised INR 110 Cr ($13.19 Mn) in its Series A funding round co-led by SWC Global and IvyCap Ventures.

Building An Omnichannel Brand 

Dungarwal credited product expansion and increase in online sales for the revenue growth.

“Our revenue growth in FY24 was fuelled by robust enhancements in our supply chain, supported by deeper investments in data-driven demand forecasting and AI-powered decision-making,” Dungarwal told Inc42.

He said that the startup’s focus on profitable growth in online marketplaces and a strategic push for its iOS and Android apps were the key drivers of success. The founder highlighted that online sales now account for 70% of its total sales.

Pilot categories such as shoes, accessories, and perfumes benefitted significantly from the data-driven insights. “We used data from our online footprint to strategically optimise store locations,” he said.

Looking ahead to 2025, Snitch is prioritising offline expansion while maintaining its strong digital presence. It launched 34 offline stores in the last eight months and is looking to add 10 more in January 2025 alone.

“Our goal is to aggressively expand our offline footprint to 100 stores this year by adding over 65 new outlets,” Dungarwal shared.

According to him, this hybrid approach is expected to drive a 125% increase in revenue in FY25, with offline stores projected to account for 30% of the total sales. The remaining 70% sales will continue to come from digital channels. 

Zooming Into Expenses 

In line with the increase in revenue, Snitch’s expenses jumped 132.15% to INR 236.1 Cr in FY24 from INR 101.7 Cr in the previous fiscal year. Here’s a breakdown of its expenses:

Employee Benefit Expenses: The startup’s employee costs rose 32.01% to INR 4 Cr from INR 3.1 Cr in FY23.

Advertising & Promotional Expenses: Spending on advertising and promotions surged 39.72% year-on-year (YoY) to INR 35 Cr in FY24.

Marketplace Charges: The startup’s expenses under this category stood at INR 12.7 Cr in FY24. This cost was nil in the previous year as it didn’t have a presence on marketplaces in FY23. 

The post Snitch’s FY24 Revenue Zooms 2.3X To INR 243 Cr appeared first on Inc42 Media.

Bengaluru-based cloud telephony and communications startup Exotel narrowed its net loss by more than 60% to INR 43.3 Cr in the financial year 2023-24 (FY24) from INR 109.4 Cr in the previous year on the back of improvement in its EBITDA margin and reduced expenses.

The Blume Ventures-backed company reported modest business growth with its operating revenue rising 6% to INR 444.5 Cr during the year under review from INR 419.6 Cr in FY23.

Including other income of INR 15.5 Cr, total revenue grew 3% year-on-year to INR 460 Cr in FY24.

The A91 Partners-backed startup trimmed its EBITDA loss to INR 15.6 Cr in the year ended March 31, 2024, from INR 81.5 Cr in the previous fiscal year. 

EBITDA margin improved 15 percentage points to -4% in FY24 from -19% last year.

Founded in 2011 by Shivakumar Ganesan, Ishwar Sridharan, Siddharth Ramesh, and Vijay Sharma, Exotel offers products that allow companies to make and receive phone calls over the Internet instead of traditional telephone lines.

The company primarily earns revenue from internet-enabled communication services. 

Other revenue channels include the income generated via software licensing, chatbot services, and the sale of products such as APIs, browser extensions, software development kits, and mobile apps.

Exotel competes in the cloud phone market against legacy players like Tata Communications, as well as new-age tech startups, such as Gupshup-owned Knowlarity, MyOperator, and Ozonotel, among others.

Earlier this year, Exotel rolled out an AI-driven solutions suite, the House of AI, eyeing a revenue growth of 50% by 2025.

The company last raised $40 Mn in a Series D funding round led by Steadview Capital in 2022.

A Closer Look At Exotel’s FY24 Expenses

Despite growth in its topline, Exotel managed to bring down its overall expenses by 10% to INR 498.8 Cr during the year under review from INR 555.5 Cr in FY23.

Employee Benefits Expense: The cloud telephony startup reported a 24% decline in its employee benefits expense to INR 186.4 Cr in FY24 from INR 244.9 Cr in the previous fiscal year.

Miscellaneous Expenses: The spending under this head rose 15% to INR 41.1 Cr during the year under review from INR 35.8 Cr a year ago. 

Miscellaneous expenses included hosting charges, payment gateway charges, licence fees, software subscription charges, and data centre costs, among others.

Telephone & Postage Expense: Exotel spent INR 195.4 Cr under this bucket in FY24, 10.5% higher than INR 176.8 Cr it spent in the previous fiscal year.

The post Exotel Narrows Loss By 60% To INR 43 Cr In FY24 appeared first on Inc42 Media.

Media-focussed SaaS unicorn Amagi’s consolidated net loss declined 23.72% to INR 245 Cr in the financial year 2023-24 (FY24) from INR 321.2 Cr in FY23, due to improvement in its EBITDA margin.

The company saw strong business growth, with its operating revenue rising 29.18% to INR 879.1 Cr in FY24 from INR 680.5 Cr in FY23.

The US region was the largest revenue contributor for the company, bringing in about 67% of its revenue. While it earned only INR 8 Cr revenue from India, the US brought in INR 591.5 Cr. Meanwhile, the UK accounted for INR 115.5 Cr of the revenue. The remaining revenue came from the rest of the world. 

Amagi trimmed its EBITDA loss to INR 215.4 Cr from INR 302.6 Cr in FY23. EBITDA margin improved by 19 percentage points to -25% from -44% in the prior fiscal year.

Founded in 2008 by Subramanian, Srinivasan KA, and Srividhya Srinivasan, Amagi offers a full-stack cloud suite for clients to create, distribute and monetise content globally. It also offers broadcast and targeted advertising solutions for broadcast and streaming platforms.

Amagi achieved the unicorn status in March 2022 after raising $95 Mn from Accel, Norwest Venture Partners, and Avataar Ventures. Later that year, it raised additional $79 Mn from General Atlantic. 

Earlier this month, the company acquired California-based AI-driven SaaS startup Argoid AI for an undisclosed sum. 

Rising Costs Amid Revenue Growth

Despite the strong revenue growth, Amagi’s total expenditure increased only 13.43% to INR 1,179.1 Cr in FY24 from INR 1,039.5 Cr in FY23.

Employee Benefit Expenses: The company’s employee costs grew 10.81% to INR 663.4 Cr in FY24 from INR 598.7 Cr in FY23.

Advertising & Promotional Expenses: Amagi’s advertising and promotional expenses rose 18.01% to INR 24.9 Cr in FY24 from INR 21.1 Cr in FY23.

Telephone & Postage Expenses: The spending under the head jumped 13.51% to INR 270.6 Cr in FY24 from INR 238.4 Cr in FY23.

The post SaaS Unicorn Amagi’s FY24 Loss Declines 24% To INR 245 Cr appeared first on Inc42 Media.

Bengaluru-based cloud kitchen startup Curefoods managed to reduce its net loss by 49.64% to INR 172.6 Cr in the financial year ended March 2024 (FY24) from INR 342.7 Cr in FY23, as its top line surged and margins improved.

The startup’s operating revenue zoomed 53.17% to INR 585.1 Cr in FY24 from INR 382 Cr in the previous fiscal year.

The startup narrowed its EBITDA loss to INR 82.8 Cr in FY24 from INR 275.7 Cr in FY23, resulting in a 58 percentage point improvement in its EBITDA margin to -14% from -72% in the previous fiscal year.

Curefoods, founded by Ankit Nagori in 2020, operates a diverse portfolio of brands including EatFit, CakeZone, Nomad Pizza, Sharief Bhai Biryani, and Frozen Bottle. It claims to manage more than 200 cloud kitchens and offline outlets, offering over 10 cuisines across 15 cities in India.

In March this year, the startup secured a funding of INR 200 Cr (around $25 Mn) from Flipkart cofounder Binny Bansal’s Three State Ventures.

Last year, Curefoods raised INR 300 Cr ($37 Mn) in a funding round led by Three State Ventures. The round was a mix of primary and secondary equity and debt.

Zooming Into The Expenses

Curefoods managed to control the rise in its total expenditure during the year under review. Despite a 50% increase in operating revenue, its expenses grew only 6.97% to INR 806.8 Cr in FY24 from INR 754.2 Cr in FY23.

Cost Of Materials Consumed: The cloud kitchen startup spent INR 229.6 Cr under this head, an increase of 33.72% from INR 171.7 Cr in FY23. 

Employee Benefit Expenses: The startup spent INR 148.2 Cr on employee benefits, an increase of 43.19% from INR 103.5 Cr in the previous fiscal year.

Advertising & Promotional Expenses: In a bid to cut its losses, Curefoods trimmed advertising and promotional spending by 50.84% to INR 52.8 Cr from INR 107.4 Cr in FY23.

Guarantee Commission Expenses: Guarantee commission costs rose significantly by 56.22%, reaching INR 109.2 Cr in FY24 from INR 69.9 Cr in FY23.

The post Curefoods’ FY24 Loss Halves To INR 173 Cr appeared first on Inc42 Media.

WestBridge Capital-backed SaaS startup LeadSquared reported a marginal 0.73% increase in its net loss to INR 162.24 Cr in the financial year 2023-24 (FY24) from INR 161.06 Cr in the previous year.

Operating revenue rose 9.12% to INR 279.29 Cr during the year under review from INR 255.93 Cr in FY23, LeadSquared’s filings with the ministry of corporate affairs accessed by Inc42 showed.

Founded in 2011 by Nilesh Patel, Sudhakar Gorti and Prashant Singh, LeadSquared offers vertical SaaS products to enterprises across sectors such as edtech, healthcare, banking and financial services (BFSI), hospitality and more.

It competes with the likes of Zoho, Browserstack, Amagi, and Freshworks in the sales automation space. According to Inc42 data, the enterprise tech startup has raised more than $188 Mn in funding till date.

The startup turned unicorn in 2022 after raising $153 Mn from WestBridge in a Series C funding round.

Including other income of INR 45.9 Cr, the Bengaluru-based startup’s total revenue jumped 9.77% year-on-year to INR 325.2 Cr in the financial year ended March 31, 2024.

LeadSquared generates revenue from the sale of IT services and user licenses for software applications, as well as from billing contracts.

As of March 31, 2024, the company’s total cash and cash equivalents stood at INR 558 Cr.

Where Did LeadSquared Spend In FY24?

In line with the surge in sales, LeadSquared’s overall expenses rose 6.6% to INR 486.45 Cr during the year ended March 31, 2024 from INR 456.21 Cr a year ago, with employee costs emerging as the biggest expense head.

Employee Benefits Expense: The SaaS unicorn’s spending under this bucket surged 12.67% to INR 306.23 Cr during the year under review from INR 271.78 Cr in the previous year.

Other Expenses: The company managed to trim its expenditure in this bracket by 7.2% to INR 156.80 Cr in FY24 from INR 168.97 Cr in FY23. Of the total other expenses, miscellaneous expenses accounted for INR 139.76 Cr during the year under review.

The post SaaS Unicorn LeadSquared Posts INR 162 Cr Loss In FY24 appeared first on Inc42 Media.

IPO-bound coworking space startup IndiQube’s net loss widened 72% to INR 341.51 Cr in the financial year 2023-24 (FY24) from INR 198.10 Cr in the previous year, primarily due to a sharp increase in loss on fair valuation of financial liabilities.

However, revenue from operations surged 44% to INR 867.66 Cr during the year under review from INR 601.28 Cr in FY23. 

For the three-months period ended June 30, 2024 (Q1 FY25), its loss after tax stood at INR 42.04 Cr on an operating revenue of INR 251.30 Cr. 

In a statement, IndiQube said that its EBITDA stood at INR 263.4 Cr in FY24 and INR 153 Cr in Q1 FY25.

Founded in 2015 by Rishi Das and Meghna Agarwal, IndiQube is a managed office space provider that offers ‘office in a box’ experience to clients, encompassing workspace design, interior build out and a plethora of B2B & B2C services leveraging technology.

The company claims to manage a portfolio of 103 centres across 13 cities, covering 7.76 Mn sq ft of area under management (AUM) in built-up area with a total seating capacity of 1.72 Lakh as of June 30, 2024. 

It counts Myntra, upGrad, Zerodha, No Broker, Redbus, Juspay, Perfios, Moglix, Ninjacart, among its clients. 

As Inc42 reported, IndiQube has filed its draft red herring prospectus (DRHP) with market regulator SEBI for an initial public offering worth INR 850 Cr.

The proposed initial share sale is a combination of fresh issue of equity shares worth INR 750 Cr and an offer for sale of up to INR 100 Cr. 

Promoters and cofounders Das and Agarwal, will be divesting some shares via the OFS. 

The company plans to use the proceeds from the fresh issue to establish new centres, repay some loans and meet its working capital requirements.

IndiQube’s Revenue Drivers

The IPO-bound company primarily earns revenue from the rent it charges its clients for its coworking spaces. Workspace leasing revenue stood at INR 741.58 Cr during the year under review, up 44% from INR 515.24 Cr in FY23.

While workspace leasing remains the core driver of revenue for IndiQube, it has also strategically expanded its offerings to include value added services (VAS) such as interior design and build, facility management, food and transport services, among others. 

Revenue from VAS rose 35% to INR 92.19 Cr in FY24 from INR 68.16 Cr last fiscal year.

Where Did IndiQube Spend In FY24?

The IPO-bound coworking space provider saw its total expenses surge 51% to INR 1,252.48 Cr during the year under review from INR 829.20 Cr in FY23.

Loss On Fair Valuation Of Financial Liabilities: The coworking space provider incurred an expenditure of INR 268.95 Cr in this bracket during the year under review, more than double the INR 112.24 Cr it spent last year.

Finance Costs: IndiQube’s finance costs mainly consist of interest expense on lease liabilities, borrowings and security deposits received. Spending under this head surged 36% to INR 256 Cr in FY24 from INR 188 Cr in the previous fiscal year.

Employee Benefits Expense: IndiQube saw its employee benefits expense rise 47% to INR 63.76 Cr in the year ended March 31, 2024 from INR 43.52 Cr a year ago.

Amid rising demand for flexible workspaces and boom in revenue in the shared office market, coworking startups are making a beeline to list on bourses. While Awfis has already made its Dalal Street debut, Smartworks and DevX have also filed their draft IPO papers with SEBI.

The likes of Innov8, 91springboard, Spring House, Incuspaze and COWRKS are also planning to float an IPO soon.

The post IPO-Bound IndiQube’s Loss Widens 72% To INR 341.5 Cr In FY24 appeared first on Inc42 Media.