India’s youngest unicorn Apna posts Rs 17 Cr revenue and Rs 28.3 Cr loss in FY21

Apna became the fastest unicorn from India as its valuation passed the $1 billion mark within a mere 22 months after its inception. It was also an almost 2X jump in the company’s valuation in just three months (it was valued at $570 million in June) — which came on the back of its quick growth in scale. 

The blue-collared workers hiring platform claims 16 million users on its Android-only app with 150K recruiters across 42 cities. While these numbers were claimed in the ongoing fiscal (FY22), the company has demonstrated a notable financial performance in its first full fiscal of operations: FY21.

While it claims to be in a pre-revenue stage, Apna recorded a 3.24X jump in its operating revenue during the last fiscal. Its revenue grew to Rs 16.95 crore in FY21 from Rs 5.22 crore earned in FY20, according to the company’s annual financial statement filed with RoC.

Importantly, Apna has made the entire collection from technical support services which the company provides to recruiters on its platform.

Growth in startups usually comes at a high cost and it’s no different with Apna. The company’s expenses shot up 9.22X to 45.40 crore in FY21 from 4.92 crore spent in the preceding fiscal year (FY20). 

Salaries and other employee benefit expenses formed 57.15% of the total expenses. This cost blew up 9.90X to 25.95 crore in FY21 from 2.62 crore in FY20. According to LinkedIn, Apna has 373 employees and has seen 57% growth in hiring in the past six months.

Digital marketing emerged as the second-largest cost centre for the company in FY21. These expenses ballooned 40x to Rs 14 crore in FY21 as compared to only Rs 35 lakh spent during FY20.

While Apna recorded a profit of Rs 30 lakh in FY20, its losses have surged significantly in FY21 as the growth of scale became a priority.

As a result, Apna lost  Rs. 28.26 crore during FY21 and its cash outflows from operations grew 4.4x to Rs 20.55 crore during the same period.

On a unit level, Apna spent Rs 2.68 to make a rupee of operating revenue.

Apna scaled up quickly in FY21 and its numbers reflect the trajectory. The good part is that it has been able to churn a significant revenue, especially when the company is claiming to be in a pre-revenue stage. Comparatively, its financial numbers are better than several growth-stage companies. On the lines of the majority of the venture capital-backed startups of its age, the company’s revenue and losses both are slated to grow multi-fold in the ongoing fiscal year (FY22).