Agritech startup Bijak’s gross revenue flew 13X in the fiscal year ending March 2023 as compared to FY22. Moreover, the Gurugram-based company also managed to cut its losses by over 16% in the same period.
Bijak’s gross revenue (aka gross merchandise value – GMV) surged 13X to Rs 807 crore in FY23 from Rs 62 crore in FY22, its annual financial statements filed with the Registrar of Companies show.
Founded in 2019, Bijak is a B2B agricultural commodities trading marketplace for agriculture supplies which also provides logistics and working capital requirements to suppliers.
The sale of agricultural commodities via its apps (Bijak Mandi, Vyapaar, Global, and Just Fresh) was the primary source that formed 99% of the revenue in FY23. Income from commission, logistics, and interest were some other revenue drivers for Bijak.
The company also made Rs 6 crore from interest on deposits and current investments tallying its overall income to Rs 813 crore in FY23.
For the B2B commodity supplier, the cost of procurement of agricultural commodities accounted for 92% of the overall expenditure. To the tune of scale, this cost surged 12.4X to Rs 791 crore in FY23.
Its employee benefits, advertising, doubtful debts, payment gateway, logistics, brokerage, and other overheads catalyzed the firm’s total expenditure to Rs 860 crore in FY23 from Rs 121 crore in FY22.
See TheKredible for the detailed expense breakup.
Expense Breakdown
https://thekredible.com/company/bijak/financials
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https://thekredible.com/company/bijak/financials
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- Cost of materials consumed
- Employee benefit
- Advertising
- Provision for doubtful receivables
- Others
The optimum control in employee benefits and advertising helped Bijak to control its losses by 16.4% to Rs 46 crore in FY23 from Rs 55 crore in FY22. Its ROCE and EBITDA margin also improved to -28% and -4.7% respectively. On a unit level, it spent Rs 1.07 to earn a rupee in FY23.
FY22-FY23
| FY22 | FY23 |
| EBITDA Margin | -83% | -4.7% |
| Expense/₹ of Op Revenue | ₹1.95 | ₹1.07 |
| ROCE | -30% | -28% |
Bijak has raised around $33 million to date including its $19.4 million Series B round led by Peak XV and Omidyar Network in January 2022. According to the startup data intelligence platform TheKredible, Peak XV’s Surge Ventures is the largest external stakeholder with 13.8% followed by Bertelsmann and Omidyar Network.
Bijak has based its success on removing the trust deficit between buyers and sellers of agricultural produce, and in doing so, expanded the market of opportunities for both. It seems to be doing that based on a combination of technology that enables it to keep a track record for both sides, and by offering credit to fill this gap directly. That sounds like a recipe for success, without involving a significant disruption to existing marketplaces. With more and more buyers and sellers, or transactions, the firm will also keep strengthening its own understanding and user base, which should help further reduce costs for marketing and promotions. With profitability in sight, there is much more good news to expect for its investors in the future.
