B2B agritech firm Ninjacart’s gross revenue surpassed Rs 1,600 crore mark in the fiscal year ending March 2023, company co-founder and CEO Kartheeswaran K K told Entrackr.
At Rs 1,600 crore, Ninjacart’s revenue in FY23 was up by nearly 70% from Rs 945 crore in FY22.
Ninjacart caters to B2B clients and enables retailers, restaurants, and sellers in mandis to source fresh produce directly from farmers. The company claims to have over 5 million farmers and 1 lakh retailers on its platform with more than 80 collection centers and warehouses in India which moves over tons of fresh produce across seven cities including Bengaluru, Chennai, NCR, and Mumbai-Pune region.
“Out of the total GMV, 80% of the income comes from the sale of the produce while the rest 20% of the collection was generated from commission and credit facilities,” the co-founder added.
The southern part of India accounts for around 40% of the total GMV while the western and northern parts contribute 30% each to the total collections, he said.
Having an inventory-led model, the cost of procurement formed 71% of the total expenditure, as per details shared by the company. This cost, however, surged 24.4% to Rs 1,085 crore in FY23 from Rs 872 crore in FY22.
Ninjacart’s employee benefit cost surged 54% to Rs 247 crore in FY23. “The company added another Rs 44 crore and Rs 46 crore towards logistics and sub-contractor expenses which pushed the total expenditure 22.9% to Rs 1538 crore in FY23 from Rs 1252 crore in FY22,” Kartheeswaran said.
With prudent cash control and decent scale, the company managed to limit its losses which increased a mere 6.2% to Rs 325 crore in FY22 from Rs 306 crore in FY22.
Kartheeswaran said that the company is aiming at a gross revenue of Rs 4,000 crore in FY4 basis the current run rate. He also expressed hope that the company will hit profitability in FY26.
When asked about the runway, he said that the company currently has a runway of about 3-4 years. Though, he acknowledged the impact of the ‘funding winter’ on the startup ecosystem.
It is worth highlighting that Ninjacart has become the third agritech firm to post more than Rs 1,500 crore revenue (GMV) in FY23. The company’s competitors DeHaat and WayCool claimed to have recorded Rs 1,965 crore and Rs 1,800 crore revenue respectively in FY23.
While Ninjacart managed to keep losses in check, DeHaat saw its losses soared 94%.% in the last fiscal year. WayCool is yet to file its audited annual report for FY23.
Valuation wise, the trio are on the verge of becoming unicorns. Ninjacart was valued at $815 million in its last round while DeHaat and Waycool are valued at over $700 million.