BankBazaar receives capital from Amazon; FY20 revenue hit

Online financial services marketplace BankBazaar has raised Rs 8.2 crore in bridge financing from existing investors Amazon, Gus Holdings along with co-founders Arjun Shetty and Adhil Shetty.

This is the third tranche received by the Chennai-based firm as a part of its ongoing Series D round. In June, the company had secured Rs 45 crore led by WSV, while Rs 29 crore came in as the first tranche led by Amazon in April. 

Entrackr had exclusively reported about BankBazaar kicking off its Series D round. 

BankBazaar has allotted 17,775 Series D1 CCPS at  Rs 4611.2 per share to raise Rs 8.2 crore as per regulatory filings. Amazon poured in Rs 2.84 crore, while Gus Holdings infused Rs 2.3 crore, and the promoters Arjun and Adhil Shetty picked up shares worth Rs 3.06 crore. 

The 12-years old BankBazaar helps consumers compare offers across various banks and non-banking financial companies for products including credit cards, loans, savings, investment products, and insurance. It claims to have onboarded 50 banks with over 2.3 crore customers on its platform.

As part of filings, BankBazaar also submitted provisional figures for the fiscal year ended in March 2020, and as per which the company saw a reduction in scale as operational revenue dropped by 24.2% to Rs 82.82 crore in FY20 from Rs 109.3 crore in FY19.

Responding to Entrackr’s detailed questionnaire on its provisional balance sheet, BankBazaar said, “Between October 2019 and February 2020 we saw a 90% increase in monthly organic traffic along with a 53% increase in monthly revenue and a 15% reduction in costs during the same period.” 

Contrary to its claim, the actual revenue numbers have reduced by almost one fourth.

BankBazaar’s effort to conserve capital was evident in the expense sheet as total expenditure reduced by 38.7% from  Rs 262.35 crore in FY19 to Rs 160.83 crore FY20. Expenses on advertising and promotion saw a steep decline as they have reduced by 57% from Rs 65.4 crore in FY19 to Rs 28.42 crore in FY20. It’s in line with the company's claims of doubling organic traffic on the platform.

At the end of FY20, total assets stood at around Rs 43 crore, a 61% decline from Rs 110 crore it had at the start of the year while the losses for the year were reduced by 51% from Rs 170.3 crore in FY19 to Rs 83.4 crore in FY20.

In May, BankBazaar had also partnered with Indusind Bank and SBI Card to facilitate contactless access to credit products through digital KYC and video KYC facilities amidst the Covid-19 pandemic.