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Fasal reports Rs 34 Cr revenue in FY24; earns 91% from fruit sales

Entrackr · 3m

Agritech startup Fasal raised $12 million led by TDK Ventures and British International Investment (BII) in December last year. The significant funding seems to have given cushion to the six-year-old firm which earned only Rs 58 crore since its inception in 2018. Fasal’s revenue from operations increased 89% to Rs 34 crore in FY24 from Rs 18 crore in FY23, as shown in its annual financial statements filed with the Registrar of Companies (RoC). Founded in 2018, Fasal leverages AI, crop sciences, and IoT to deliver crop-stage-specific intelligence which optimizes resources and enhances productivity. Despite such strong focus on tech, only 9% of the firm’s total revenue ~Rs 3 crore came from these services. Meanwhile, Fasal made 91% of its revenue from selling fruits. For the agritech model which eventually converted into a supply chain, the cost of procurement was naturally the largest cost center which accounted for 47% of the overall expenditure. To the tune of scale, this cost increased 83% to Rs 33 crore in FY24. Its employee benefits, legal, advertising cum business promotion, packaging, forwarding, and other overheads pushed the overall cost to Rs 70 crore in FY24 from Rs 52 crore in FY23. See TheKredible for the detailed cost breakup. At Rs 30 crore, the increase in fruit sales helped Fasal to contain its losses in FY24. Its ROCE and EBITDA margin hovered at -45.7% and -80%, respectively. On a unit level, the firm spent Rs 2.06 to earn a rupee in the fiscal year ending March 2024. FY23-FY24 FY23 FY24 EBITDA Margin -146.32% -80% Expense/₹ of Op Revenue ₹2.89 ₹2.06 ROCE -163.53% -45.71% Fasal has raised $18 million to date including its pre-series of $4 million in 2021. According to the startup data intelligence platform TheKredible, Omnivore is the largest external stakeholder with 15.99% followed by 3One4 Capital. See TheKredible for the complete shareholding pattern. By now, far too many agritech startups have followed the same pattern. Start off with a heavy on tech proposition that promises to disrupt farming itself, before discovering it’s just too difficult to move the needle there. And while at it, spot an alleged opportunity in price arbitrage between farmer rates and retail rates, and turn a seller. For one, this pattern is flawed simply because most of these startups are mistaken if they think they can negotiate better than the established network of traders on the ground. That is probably why we see startups allegedly selling farm fresh fruits and veggies still retailing stuff that can be a 100% premium to the push cart based sellers. On top of that are quality issues of depending on luck versus the hand picked comfort of buying yourself. Finally, the search for margins leads to a gradual spread of the portfolio or Sku’s, a surefire recipe to burn through funding faster. If it’s ever going to work, it might work for a handful of startups. For the rest, we have to wonder just what it will take.