Lybrate's losses shoot up by 100% while revenue dwindles in FY17

Online doctor appointment and pathology collection platform Lybrate has posted a loss of Rs 3.6 crore in FY17. This is a significant 102 per cent jump in losses in the fiscal when compared to the Rs 1.78 crore figure in FY16.

Interestingly, unlike most of the funded startups striving for success, Lybrate's revenue has witnessed a downfall of 27.9 per cent in FY17, and even with a decrease in expenses, the losses have increased, reveals the company's recent RoC filings with MCA.

The company has recorded a revenue of Rs 16.2 crore in FY17 against Rs 22.45 crore in FY16, mentions the filings.

Lybrate offers users the platform to communicate with doctors through a combination of text, audio, and video. While users can ask questions related to health for free, it charges a fee for doctor consultation and collecting pathology test from patients’ doorstep.

So far, Lybrate has raised about $14.4 million from the likes of Tiger Global, Ratan Tata, and Nexus Ventures, amongst others.

The California-cum-New Delhi-based company had incurred an expense of Rs 19.83 crore in FY17, an 18.45 per cent decrease from Rs 24.32 crore in the preceding fiscal.

The company majorly competes with Bengaluru-based Practo that has amassed over $180 million risk capital from Tencent, Sofina, Google Capital, Yuri Milner, Sequoia Capital and others. In January 2017, it raised $55 million Series D round led by Tencent.

Practo had recorded a revenue of Rs 211.98 crore in 2016-17, a 28.36 rise from the previous financial year while its revenue pegged at Rs 165.14 crore. On the other hand, the losses of the Tencent-backed company increased by whopping 195 per cent to Rs 190.68 crore, from Rs 64.61 crore a year ago.

In an interaction with TechCrunch last year, Lybrate had mentioned that it has over 100K verified doctors on its platform. It also claimed to have driven over six million interactions (largely non-transaction based) on a monthly basis. In contrast, Practo claimed 200,000 healthcare providers on its platform which eventually enables 50 million bookings a year.