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Exclusive: Virtual credit card app Kiwi set to raise around $23 Mn in Series B

EntrackrEntrackr · 9d ago
Exclusive: Virtual credit card app Kiwi set to raise around $23 Mn in Series B
Medial

Exclusive: Virtual credit card app Kiwi set to raise around $23 Mn in Series B Fintech startup Kiwi is raising $23 million from new and existing investors, according to two sources aware of the matter. The fresh funding is coming at a gap of nearly two years for the Mumbai-based startup. “Vertex Ventures has issued a term sheet to lead the round,” said one of the sources, requesting anonymity as the talks are private. “Kiwi is likely to be valued at over $100 million (post-money) in this round, which will also see participation from existing investors Stellaris VP and Nexus VP.” This fresh fundraise follows Kiwi’s Series A round in November 2023, when it secured $13 million led by the above-mentioned existing backers. At the time of the earlier round, the startup was valued at around $65 million. Entrackr has also confirmed the fundraise through regulatory filings. Founded in 2022 by former Freecharge executive Anup Agrawal along with Satyam Kumar and Siddharth Mehta, Kiwi enables users to make UPI payments via RuPay credit cards. The company works with Axis Bank and has tied up with NPCI to push the adoption of credit on UPI. Unlike traditional credit cards, Kiwi issues a virtual RuPay card that can be directly linked to UPI apps such as Google Pay and PhonePe. The firm competes with Slice, OneCard and Uni among a few others. Kiwi declined to comment on the story while queries sent to Vertex, Omidyar, Nexus, and Stellaris did not elicit any response. Investor interest in Kiwi is in line with the broader push by the Reserve Bank of India and NPCI to enable wider adoption of credit on UPI. Since the feature was introduced in 2022, the product has gained traction with both banks and fintech companies experimenting with solutions to increase credit usage in digital payments. The firm claims to be the first to launch credit on UPI with a full-stack offering. According to startup data intelligence platform TheKredible, Siddharth Mehta, Anup Agarwal, and Mohit Bedi each hold about 16.2% stake in Kiwi as of the Series A round, while Nexus is the largest external stakeholder in the three-year-old startup.

Tata 1mg’s revenue nears Rs 2,000 Cr in FY24; losses down by 75%

EntrackrEntrackr · 1y ago
Tata 1mg’s revenue nears Rs 2,000 Cr in FY24; losses down by 75%
Medial

Tata 1mg chased growth during FY22 and FY23 and its collection spiked over two-fold in both fiscal years. But the company appears to have prioritized the bottom line in the fiscal year ending March 2024. As a result, its revenue grew by only 21%, and at the same time it cut down losses by 75% in FY24. Tata 1mg’s revenue from operations increased to Rs 1,968 crore in FY24 from Rs 1,627 crore in FY23, its consolidated financial statements sourced from the Registrar of Companies (RoC) show. Income from the sale of medicines formed 81.3% of Tata 1mg’s total revenue which increased 24% to Rs 1,599 crore in FY24. Lab test fees, patient support programme, advertising, shipping, were other revenue drivers for the Gurugram-based firm. The Prashant Tandon-led company also earned Rs 23 crore from interest, gain of financial assets, and other miscellaneous avenues which pushed its total income to Rs 1,991 crore in FY24. See TheKredible for the detailed revenue breakup. Since 1mg operates with inventory, the cost of procurement of medicines accounted for 56% of the overall expenditure. This cost grew by just 8.5% to Rs 1,289 crore in FY24. Tata 1mg’s spends on employee benefits, information technology, legal, advertising, commissions, packaging, fulfillment, and other overheads took its total cost up by 20.4% to Rs 2303 crore in FY24. Head to TheKredible for the complete expense breakdown. The decent scale and controlled cost helped Tata 1mg to reduce losses by 75% to Rs 313 crore in FY24 from Rs 1,255 crore in FY23. Its EBITDA margin stood at -10.85% in FY24. On a unit level, Tata 1mg spent Rs 1.17 to earn a rupee in the previous fiscal year. Cevat: The primary reason for the substantial losses in FY23 was the FVTPL cost (non-cash in nature), which amounted to Rs 668 crore. Tata Digital acquired a 55% stake in 1mg in June 2021 but since then it gained around 8.5% additional stake in the e-medicine platform. According to TheKredible, Tata Digital currently holds a 63.5% stake in 1mg which was last valued at 1.25 billion. As per Fintrackr’s estimates, its enterprise value to revenue multiple stood at 4.87X. FY23-FY24 FY23 FY24 EBITDA Margin -71.66% -10.85% Expense/₹ of Op Revenue ₹1.78 ₹1.17 ROCE -341.99 NA While the focus on bottomline is understandable as part of a large umbrella like the Tata Group, where freedom is proportional to financial performance,Tata 1mg’s cost control measures have another reason. It is probably no longer worthwhile to acquire customers at a high cost where customers have basically flunked the loyalty test. That has made most e-commerce players a lot more reticent about indiscriminate discounting and the likes in favor of much more data led, targeted campaigns. Of course, with a turkey as large as Tata Neu around, one would expect Tata 1mg to get a lot more leeway however.

RockClimber banks on authenticity and quality to tap into India’s beverage market

EntrackrEntrackr · 1y ago
RockClimber banks on authenticity and quality to tap into India’s beverage market
Medial

India has a massive beverage market with many established brands, though several new players, such as Bira, have also made their mark. Considering the sheer size of the market, it’s safe to say that there’s ample scope for newcomers. One such new player is RockClimber. The company creates fruit beverages and fruit spirits designed specifically for India, made from locally grown fruits like jamun, grapes, pomegranate, kiwi, mulberry, and litchi, among others. One of the company’s objectives is to help reduce fruit wastage and create a sustainable ecosystem for farmers and fruit produce. We spoke to Cofounder Hariprasad Shetty to learn more about RockClimber, what distinguishes it from the competition, and the roadmap ahead. Here are the edited excerpts: The beverage market is filled with multiple brands, including some very established ones. How do you plan to stand out from the competition? As a truly authentic fruit based beverage brand, we are committed to using high quality fruits with an experimentative approach to crafting unique fruit combinations that incorporate global flavour trends. This has allowed us to offer a very diverse range of exciting and refreshing beverages while keeping fruits at the center of everything we do. That’s what makes us stand out from the rest of the competition – we see ourselves as fruit experts and our products are fresh and engage with the evolving consumer preferences. So our focus is on delivering an uncompromising product experience. We source the finest fruits from across the country. This commitment to authenticity and quality sets us apart from many competitors who rely heavily on artificial flavors and preservatives. And the traction we have had in the last three years also points to how we have been accepted in the market. [FY 22 7 Cr, FY 23 7 Cr, FY 24 25 Cr, FY 25 60-70 Cr domestic and 30-35 outside India = 100 Cr+ target] 140 strong distributor network across 11 states. 3 million + bottles of beverages sold. 3000 tons of fruits processed sourced from a farmer base of 200,000 small scale fruit farmers producing grapes, pomegranate, pineapple, jamun, strawberry, mango etc. What is your offline and distribution strategy, usually the key to robust growth in your category? Most of the work should happen before Day Zero – the launch day. We recognized early on that a robust distribution network is the backbone of success in this business. We adopted a systematic approach to build our distribution network from the ground up. Mapping out territories and identifying potential distributors and retailers who could penetrate different markets. We only went ahead with experienced and reputable distributors who had an in-depth understanding of local market dynamics and consumer preferences. What is your strategy for online? Are you considering partnerships with any quick commerce platform? Yes, now that we have a headway in the distribution aspect and have achieved product market fit, we are now going to go aggressive on the marketing front especially online channels. What are the incentives for a farmer dealing with your platform other than the convenience of direct sale and price? Farmers are looking for a stable assured source of income every year. Timely procurement of their fruit produce, immediate payments, reduction in time to sale, and providing access to a large pool of buyers are all the benefits farmers get by working with us. We started with 500 tons of fruit procurement, and now at over 5000 tons. We aim for 10X procurement volumes in the next 2-3 years, thereby contributing to 10 times reduction in fruit loss, and hence a direct positive impact on small scale farmers livelihood and stable income generation. As we expand our facilities, we aim to recruit local talent to be part of our company and thereby directly provide employment opportunities as well. RockClimber aims to: Scale to 10,00,000 farmer base in the next 3 years Platform building for farmer outreach, communication, and forecasting Patented mobile fruit processing system Export unit in select locations for UAE and Africa markets You also mentioned entering the UAE and Africa markets. What is your roadmap for global expansion? And why particularly these two markets? We expect 30-35% revenues coming in from global markets in the near term. Particularly markets like UAE are huge on experimentation as consumers there are well traveled and have an international palette. We see a large market opportunity in the innovative – new age beverage category in this region.

BigHaat’s gross revenue nears Rs 700 Cr in FY23

EntrackrEntrackr · 1y ago
BigHaat’s gross revenue nears Rs 700 Cr in FY23
Medial

Agritech startup BigHaat registered over five-fold growth during the fiscal year ending March 2023. However, in pursuit of rapid scale its losses also rose in a similar proportion during the same period. BigHaat’s gross revenue surged 5.3X to Rs 643 crore in FY23 from Rs 120 crore in FY22, its consolidated financial statements filed with the Registrar of Companies show. Founded in 2015, BigHaat leverages technology to provide a wide range of solutions and services to farmers, helping them optimize their agricultural practices and increase productivity. Market linkages formed 92% of the overall gross revenue which increased 6.6X to Rs 594 crore in FY23. The rest of the income comes from input business, exports, commission of marketplace, and others. See TheKredible for the detailed revenue breakup. In tune with growth in scale, its cost of procurement emerged as the largest cost center accounting for 92.5% of the total expenditure. This cost rose by 5.4X to Rs 623 crore in FY23 from Rs 115 crore in FY22. Its employee benefits, selling cum distribution, legal-professional, information technology, fulfillment, and other overheads took the total expenditure to Rs 673 crore in FY23 from Rs 128 crore in FY22. Head to TheKredible for the complete expense breakup. Expenses Breakdown Total ₹ 128 Cr https://thekredible.com/company/bighaat/financials View Full Data To access complete data, visithttps://thekredible.com/company/bighaat/financials Total ₹ 673 Cr https://thekredible.com/company/bighaat/financials View Full Data To access complete data, visithttps://thekredible.com/company/bighaat/financials Cost of procurement Cost of procurement Employee benefit Employee benefit Selling and distribution Selling and distribution Legal professional Legal professional Information technology Information technology Fulfilment cost Fulfilment cost Others To check complete Expense Breakdown visit thekredible.com View full data The spurt in procurement and employee benefits resulted in a significant increase in losses, rising 5.8X to Rs 35 crore in FY23 from Rs 6 crore in FY22. Its ROCE and EBITDA margin stood at -40% and -4.3%, respectively. On a unit level, it spent Rs 1.05 to earn a rupee in FY23. FY22-FY23 FY22 FY23 EBITDA Margin -6% -4.3% Expense/₹ of Op Revenue ₹1.07 ₹1.05 ROCE -14% -40% BigHaat has raised $29 million to date and was valued at $58 million in its last round. As per the startup data intelligence platform TheKredible, JM Financial is the largest external stakeholder with 27.29% followed by Ankur Capital and Beyond Next Ventures. Its co-founders Sateesh Nukala and Sachin Nandwana cumulatively command 23.29% of the company. The numbers would indicate a business that is more about trading and arbitrage than anything else, unless BigHaat incurred some major one off expenses. But at this scale, it’s obvious that the firm has the ability and knowledge to make it count, which is what should make it an interesting agritech to track from here on.

Exclusive: BharatPe set to raise $80-100 Mn pre-IPO round led by Coatue

EntrackrEntrackr · 18d ago
Exclusive: BharatPe set to raise $80-100 Mn pre-IPO round led by Coatue
Medial

Exclusive: BharatPe set to raise $80-100 Mn pre-IPO round led by Coatue BharatPe is in advanced talks to raise $80-$100 million in a pre-IPO round led by Coatue Management, according to two people aware of the matter. This equity funding marks the first such raise in four years for the Delhi-based fintech unicorn. “The round will also see participation from some new and existing investors. This is aimed at strengthening the company’s financial position and setting the stage for an eventual public listing,” said one of the sources, requesting anonymity as the talks are private. As per sources, the investment is being spearheaded by Coatue’s new partner Amit Mukherjee, who has been actively working with BharatPe’s management and board on IPO preparations. Last week, BharatPe’s CEO Nalin Negi also said that the firm will go for a pre-IPO round but ruled out a listing this fiscal (FY26). According to another source, the company wants to ensure consistent profitability before filing draft papers. BharatPe declined to comment on the story while queries sent to Coatue did not elicit an immediate response. BharatPe raised its last equity round in August 2021 when it also entered the unicorn club. It has raised over $650 million in equity and debt from the likes of Tiger Global, Dragoneer Investment Group, Steadfast Capital, Coatue Management, Ribbit Capital and others. BharatPe recently claimed that it turned profitable in FY25 with a profit before tax of Rs 6 crore (excluding ESOP costs) on revenues of Rs 1,800 crore. This marks a turnaround for the firm which had been loss-making for several years. The company already achieved a break-even at the EBITDA level (adjusting for employee stock options) during the first nine months of FY25 while its net losses declined to Rs 148.8 crore in the same period. In April, BharatPe’s subsidiary Resilient secured final approval from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to operate as an online payment aggregator. This makes BharatPe one of the few Indian fintech companies to hold an NBFC license (through Trillion Loans), a stake in a small finance bank (Unity SFB), and now a payment aggregator license. Disclaimer: Bareback Media has recently raised funding from a group of investors. Some of the investors may directly or indirectly be involved in a competing business or might be associated with other companies we might write about. This shall, however, not influence our reporting or coverage in any manner whatsoever. You may find a list of our investors here.

Bizongo’s scale doubles to Rs 167 Cr in FY23; loss nears Rs 300 Cr

EntrackrEntrackr · 1y ago
Bizongo’s scale doubles to Rs 167 Cr in FY23; loss nears Rs 300 Cr
Medial

Ecommerce-focused packaging company Bizongo has managed to double its revenue during FY23. The growth, however, came at a cost which is evident from its losses which jumped 2.7X during the said period. Bizongo’s revenue from operations grew 98.6% to Rs 166.86 crore during the fiscal year ending March 2023 as compared with Rs 84 crore in FY22, as per the company’s consolidated financial statements with the Registrar of Companies. Founded in 2015, Bizongo offers digital vendor management, supply chain automation & supply chain financing as key services to its enterprise customers. The platform serves 450-500 enterprise customers in fashion & lifestyle, pharmaceuticals, consumer discretionary, consumer staples et al. Bizongo also provides unsecured financing to vendors and according to the company it has tied up with more than 40 banks and non-bank financial companies for loan disbursement. Co-founded by Sachin Agarwal, Ankit Deb, and Ankit Tomar, the company made 96% of its revenue via service fees whereas the remaining part came from design income and platform fees. It also made around Rs 18.15 crore via interest and gains on financial assets during the year which took its topline to Rs 185 crore at the end of FY23. Bizongo spent 32% of its expenses on finance costs which largely include interest on bill discounting, interest on working capital demand loans, and interest on debentures. This cost ballooned 3.9X to Rs 151.95 crore during FY23 from Rs 38.8 crore in FY22. Employee benefit costs went up 79.4% to Rs 113.23 crore in FY23. This cost also includes ESOP expenses worth Rs 27.12 crore. The company also booked allowance for expected credit loss worth Rs 124 crore during the year. The company’s overall expenditure surged 97.1% to Rs 476.6 crore in FY23 from Rs 241.8 crore in FY22. Head to TheKredible for a complete expense breakdown and year-on-year financial performance of the company. Amid cash burn, the company’s losses spiked 173.1% to Rs 291.57 crore during FY23 as compared to Rs 106.76 crore in FY22. Its operating cash outflows, however, improved by 29.6% to Rs 646.3 crore during the last fiscal year. The EBITDA margin and ROCE of the company stood at -73.06% and -27.60%, respectively, during the year. On a unit level, Bizongo spent Rs 2.86 to earn a rupee of operating revenue in FY23. FY22-FY23 FY22 FY23 EBITDA Margin -46.45% -73.06% Expense/Rupee of ops revenue ₹2.88 ₹2.86 ROCE -9.52% -27.60% As per the startup intelligence platform TheKredible, Bizongo has raised over $260 million to date. In October last year, it raised $50 million in a Series E funding round led by existing investor Schroder Adveq. The Tiger Global-backed company was also in the news for its acquisition of Titan Capital-backed FactoryPlus, a factory digitization app for micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs), in November last year. Bizongo’s high provisions for credit loss indicate a cash-burning strategy to sort out the good, credit-worthy vendors from the bad, or worse, operational deficiencies that the firm must get a grip on to ensure its long-term survival. It remains in a promising segment to build a business at scale, but throwing money at the challenge to build a business is certainly not the answer. That investors have backed it as recently as last year indicates the possibilities they see for the firm to make a salutary impact on its segment, but we believe the time to show growth with improving margins is here.

Seven-year-old unicorn Open struggles to match deeds to reputation

EntrackrEntrackr · 1y ago
Seven-year-old unicorn Open struggles to match deeds to reputation
Medial

Neo-banking platform Open turned unicorn after a $50 million funding led by IIFL along with the participation of Tiger Global in May 2023. Despite the eminent status and significant funding, the scale and bottom line of the seven-year-old firm remained questionable as its enterprise value to revenue multiple stood at 260X until March 2023 (FY23). Open’s revenue from operations saw a modest 25% growth to Rs 30 crore in FY23 from Rs 24 crore in FY22, its consolidated financial statements filed with the Registrar of Companies (RoC) show. For context, Open recorded Rs 40 crore in revenue during FY22. The difference in revenue numbers for FY22 can be attributed to the change in accounting standards and revenue booking methods. Founded in 2017, Open offers banking, payments, and accounting solutions to small and medium businesses. Subscription sales through the company’s software and commission earned from customer transactions were the two main revenue streams for the company. It also made Rs 23 crore from interest on deposits and current investments (non-operating) taking total revenue to Rs 53 crore in FY23. For the neo-bank startup, its employee benefits constituted 50% of the overall expenditure. This cost grew 33% to Rs 149 crore in FY22 from Rs 112 crore in FY22 which also includes Rs 40 crore as ESOP cost (non-cash). The firm’s information technology, advertising, legal, payment gateway, card issuing, and other overheads catalyzed its overall expenditure to Rs 296 crore in FY23 from Rs 217 crore in FY22. See TheKredible for the complete expense breakup. Caveat: We have excluded the cost of change in fair value of compulsorily convertible cumulative participating preference shares for FY22 due to its non-cash nature. The modest scale and increased expenditure led Open’s losses to increase by 37.5% to Rs 242 crore in FY23 as compared to Rs 176 crore in FY22. Its ROCE and EBITDA margin stood at -50% and -394% respectively. FY22-FY23 FY22 FY23 EBITDA Margin -568% -394.3% Expense/₹ of Op Revenue ₹9.04 ₹9.87 ROCE -41% -50% Open’s total current assets stood at 332 crore including the cash and bank balance of Rs 311 crore till March 2023. On a unit level, it spent Rs 9.87 to earn a rupee in FY23. Open has raised over $180 million to date. According to the startup data intelligence platform TheKredible, Beenext is the largest external stakeholder at the moment with 11.72% followed by Tiger Global and Unicorn India Ventures. If readers wonder just what investors saw to pump in the funds into the firm to lift it to Unicorn valuations, then they are not alone, as even we struggle to understand the narrative that sold so well. The challenge of commercial success targeting India’s MSME sector has been well documented, thanks to the failure of multiple startups that were richly valued, only to fall by the wayside. At this stage, it’s safe to say that other than lending, practically nothing has worked, beyond the listing model of Indiamart and the likes. Considering Open raised its last funding as recently as 2023, well after it was established that the MSME sector is a graveyard for fee based efforts to ‘help’ them, one really has to wonder what Open offered to manage such amazing investor buy-in. Either way, we should know soon enough, as the clock ticks away for the firm to shake out its secret sauce.

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