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It’s a myth that you can’t monetise India promise: Figma’s Dylan Field

Economic TimesEconomic Times · 8m ago
It’s a myth that you can’t monetise India promise: Figma’s Dylan Field
Medial

Cloud-based designer platform Figma is eyeing expansion into India to support its growing user base. Around 85% of Figma's weekly active users are located outside of the US, with a significant number in India. The platform is already being used by Indian brands such as Zomato and Swiggy. Figma's CEO, Dylan Field, sees a revenue opportunity in India and aims to improve its services in the region. Figma provides real-time collaboration and accessibility features for designers, product teams, and developers, and offers a range of design tools and integrations. The company plans to develop new services and continue building independently after the termination of a potential acquisition by Adobe.

ZingHR posts Rs 84 Cr revenue in FY23; losses surge 84%

EntrackrEntrackr · 1y ago
ZingHR posts Rs 84 Cr revenue in FY23; losses surge 84%
Medial

HR tech platform ZingHr has managed a 51% growth in its operating scale in the fiscal year ending March 2023. However, the company’s losses outpaced its revenue growth and neared Rs 21 crore in the same period. Tata Capital-backed ZingHR’s revenue from operations grew to Rs 84.48 crore in FY23 from Rs 55.77 crore in FY22, according to its consolidated financial statements with the Registrar of Companies (RoC). ZingHr is an HR tech platform which offers solutions such as recruitment, payroll, employee management, talent management, payroll, and others. The company claims to have over 1,100 worldwide customers with more than two million active users across 8 countries. The sale of subscription-based software was the only source of revenue for ZingHr which surged 51.48% during FY23. The company also made Rs 1.63 crore from finance income (non-operating) which tallied its total revenue to Rs 86.1 crore in the last fiscal year. Similar to other recruiting and allied servicing platforms, employee benefits expenses accounted for 55.52% of the overall expenditure. This cost surged 48% to Rs 59.2 crore in FY23 from Rs 39.8 crore in FY22. The firm’s marketing, product maintenance, professional, server, data security, and other overhead caused a 61.5% rise in its total expenditure to Rs 106.69 crore in FY23 from Rs 66.05 crore in FY22. Head to TheKredible for a detailed expenses breakup. Expenses Breakdown Total ₹ 66.05 Cr https://thekredible.com/company/zinghr/financials View Full Data To access complete data, visithttps://thekredible.com/company/zinghr/financials Total ₹ 106.69 Cr https://thekredible.com/company/zinghr/financials View Full Data To access complete data, visithttps://thekredible.com/company/zinghr/financials Server and Data Security charges Server and Data Security charges Employee Benefit Employee Benefit Travelling and conveyance Travelling and conveyance Professional charges Professional charges Selling and Marketing expenses Selling and Marketing expenses Product maintenance charges Product maintenance charges Other Expenses To check complete Expense Breakdown visit thekredible.com View full data At the end, the firm’s losses jumped by 84.4% to Rs 20.56 crore in FY23. Its ROCE and EBITDA margin worsened to -54% and -23%, respectively. On a unit level, ZingHR spent Rs 1.27 to earn a rupee in FY23. FY22-FY23 FY22 FY23 EBITDA Margin -17% -23% Expense/₹ of Op Revenue ₹1.18 ₹1.26 ROCE -17% -54% ZingHR has raised around $13 million to date including its $10 million from Tata Capital. According to the startup data intelligence platform TheKredible, Tata Capital is the largest external stakeholder with 35.82% followed by Erasmic Venture Fund and Triton Fund. View TheKredible for the full shareholding pattern. While the high shareholding of Tata Capital might indicate a high conviction in the firm and its founders, ZingHR is up against it in a field that is both cluttered and competitive. Product differentiators are few and far between, making too much price elasticity impossible. HRtech firms might soon realize that besides the tech they offer to their clients, it is the cost of the same tech for their products that will eventually decide their future. We believe the category will find it tougher to raise capital going ahead, short of some disruptive options that are not yet visible.

BluSmart drivers face uncertainty amid company troubles, founder issues

EntrackrEntrackr · 2m ago
BluSmart drivers face uncertainty amid company troubles, founder issues
Medial

BluSmart suspended its operations in April in Mumbai, Delhi-NCR, and Bengaluru, asking its 10,000 driver-partners to return their vehicles. The move has left several drivers scrambling to find new sources of income. Rajesh [name changed], a 35-year-old man in Gurugram, secured a driving job with a heavily VC-funded electric vehicle cab hailing company which once aimed to take on the duopoly of Ola Cabs and Uber in India. An average income of Rs 20,000 to Rs 25,000 per month, Rajesh admits, was not much for his family but managed to pay bills. Though, Rajesh, who also is a father of two young children, put in 10 hours to 12 hours daily - to reach the estimated monthly income. With his company now pausing the services, Rajesh has no source of earning, and does not know how he will pay his kids’ education fees. "... Now, I don’t know how I’ll manage. I missed my kids' school fees this month. My family depends on me, and I’ve never felt so helpless,” a visibly stressed Rajesh told Entrackr. One of the things that is agonising Rajesh the most is the deceptive way his employer pushed them out. “On Wednesday (April 16th), we [drivers] received a message saying the car needed to be submitted to the hub for a breakdown. We thought it was just a minor technical issue. When we got there, they told us it was a failure and we’d be informed later. But there was no word from the company after that. We just had to go home. We were left in complete shock," says Rajesh as his voice strains, reliving the fateful moment. Rajesh says he was among the first lot of employees, when the company had just 50 cars. Like many others, he too bought the company’s promise of stability. “Now, it feels like we’ve been left out to dry,” he said. “I’m considering working with Uber or Ola… I’m looking for something else, maybe a different field altogether. But BluSmart was my livelihood, and I’d go back in a heartbeat if they reopened. It was my only source of income,” he added. Rajesh’s story resonates with another thousands of drivers who are now scrambling to find new sources of income after BluSmart’s sudden suspension of its services. Entrackr has reached out to BluSmart seeking responses on how they plan to compensate the affected drivers. In case they respond, we will incorporate their inputs. Staging the protest On May 4, a group of BluSmart drivers raised their grievances at Jantar Mantar, a historic site for protests. They pressed for demands for alternative income avenues as well as called for crucial policy reforms to prevent similar abrupt dismissals. Additionally, they also sought a government intervention. Tajinder Singh, president of Parivahan Morcha Athavale and also among those spearheading the protest, told Entrackr that women drivers of BluSmart were among those bearing the brunt the most as other taxi companies refused to recruit them. He further said that some drivers were working on a per day basis as and when required but asserted that this was not a long-term solution. “We are demanding compensation for affected BluSmart drivers. We have also sought government intervention so that the drivers can continue to earn their livelihood,” Singh said. Singh also claimed that hundreds of BluSmart employees working at charging hubs were affected by the company’s sudden suspension of its services. A business model that promised to be different than rivals Even as ‘sustainability’ remained the headline grabber, BluSmart also deployed a rather different business model compared to rivals Ola Cabs and Uber. The company used a full-stack B2C model wherein they owned and managed the vehicles whereas Ola and Uber work with independent drivers. The model allowed BluSmart to have a better control on the quality of cars, maintenance, and subsequently better customer service. For drivers, the company offered a fixed salary along with incentives. An assured income was a big factor why a lot of drivers showed interest in joining BluSmart. Ola and Uber, on the other hand, operated on a familiar commission-based system, also common with several gig working-reliant service providers. Singh also highlighted this stark difference between BluSmart and its rivals. He said that the job of driver was to pick and drop the passenger and earn a regular income (per day payout and incentives). They needed to work 10 hours to 12 hours a day. Other things like maintenance and documentation was taken care of by the company, giving drivers a more relaxed environment to operate. Blusmart has raised over $180 million to date, including its $50 million series B round in January this year. Though, it received only Rs 61 crore out of $50 million. That said, a heavily-funded BluSmart juggernaut appeared unstoppable, until it did. Earlier this year, reports emerged that BluSmart delayed salary payments to cash crunch. It had also shut down operations in Dubai and also saw an exodus of top management employees, including CEO, CBO, and CTO. A month later, SEBI published findings of its probe into Gensol Engineering, BluSmart’s partner and EV lessor. The SEBI order highlighted misuse of funds, and also barred promoters Anmol and Puneet Singh Jaggi from accessing the securities market and holding key positions in Gensol Engineering. What next for BluSmart drivers BluSmart drivers facing joblessness due to the shutdown can go for legal remedy and urgently demand clearance of any unpaid dues and better severance compensation, if not given already. The legal course, which may take a relatively long time, may also help them investigate if BluSmart violated the contract by sudden halting of their services and returning vehicles. Moreover, they can also seek intervention from regulatory boards. Singh, however, did not appear enthusiastic about taking the legal course. “Companies like these make such contracts that they keep them protected in such incidents and don’t have to own any responsibility towards people working so hard for them,” he said [loosely translated from Hindi]. As far as the future of the company goes, it’s hard to predict considering the massive VC money riding on the company. Despite the major dent in public image and also several legal troubles, it’s likely that the company may stay afloat with a rather new management and new board - a few known steps troubled companies often take to course correct. It’s worth noting that quality of drivers and cabs were the top highlight of the platform, and if it resumes, it should continue with that. With the ongoing protests and lack of communication between drivers and management, it seems unlikely that the company will enjoy the same level of trust from its network drivers.

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