Jupiter remains pre-revenue company in FY21; expenses surge 4X to Rs 26 Cr

Neobanking platform Jupiter had raised a $45 million round co-led by Nubank, Global Founders Club, Sequoia Capital and Matrix Partners. With the Series B round, the company’s valuation also jumped 2X to $300 million.

While the company has raised $71 million in total funding, it took almost two years for Jupiter to go live with the platform. That means Jupiter remained in the pre-revenue stage during FY21.

For the record, Jupiter has posted Rs 18,000 in operating revenue in FY21 from nil income in FY20. Apart from operating income, the company has made Rs 11.85 crore as other income in FY21 versus Rs 7 lakhs in the preceding financial year. 

On the lines of well capitalised early-stage startups, the other income is mainly interest on fixed deposits and gains on mutual fund investments, which stood at Rs 4.02 crore and 7.82 crore respectively in FY21.

To set up operations and build products, the two-year-old company has spent heavily during the last fiscal. As a result, Jupiter’s total expenditure shot up 310% to Rs 26 crore in FY21 from Rs 6.34 crore in the preceding fiscal (FY20).

Employee benefits expense has emerged as the largest cost centre for the Bengaluru-based firm. About 69% of its total expenditure went towards employee benefits. Importantly, 30% of this cost ~Rs 5.44 crore was accounted as ESOPs issue expense (a non-cash component).

Cost of marketing and advertising grew 174% to Rs 1.37 crore in FY21 from Rs 0.5 crore in FY20 while professional and legal fees increased by 450% in FY21 to Rs. 1.43 crore in FY21 from Rs 0.26 crore in the preceding fiscal year.

Since Jupiter is yet to churn operating income, the company’s cash outflows increased by 244% to Rs 20 crore in FY21 from Rs 5.82 crore in FY20.

Jupiter is currently offering only invite-only access. That makes it unlikely that any significant operational revenue will flow in the ongoing fiscal (FY22) as well. The company will prioritise growth with an emphasis on onboarding and retaining accounts. Its rival Fi which recently mopped up a $50 million round led by B Capital, had zero revenue in FY21 with a loss of over Rs 50 crore.

Besides saving accounts and digital banking experience, Jupiter provides debit cards buy now pay later feature (Bullet) and content platform Millions and mutual fund portfolio tracker: Portfolio Analyser.