Cashfree posts Rs 640 Cr revenue in FY25, losses rise 14%

The digital payments space struggled with growth in FY25, even after the Reserve Bank of India removed merchant onboarding restrictions for leading companies. While key payments firms are yet to report FY25 numbers, industry watchers suggest that most are likely to have de-grown or posted flat scale in the last fiscal. State Bank of India-backed Cashfree is no exception, as the firm’s operating scale remained flat in FY25.

Cashfree reported an operating revenue of Rs 640 crore in FY25 against Rs 643 crore in FY24, according to the company’s consolidated financial statements filed with the Registrar of Companies (RoC). 

Founded in 2015 by Akash Sinha and Reeju Datta, Cashfree provides businesses with a fast and easy way to collect payments online, make payouts, improve conversions, and verify identity and detect fraud during KYC and onboarding. The company claims to enable large businesses to process 12,000 transactions per second during peak demand.

The revenue breakup for FY25 shows payment gateway commissions accounted for 75% of the operating revenue at Rs 481 crore. Payout commissions added another Rs 55 crore. While commission income from other services contributed the rest Rs 103 crore.

With other income of around Rs 1 crore, the Bengaluru-based company posted a total income of Rs 641 crore in the last fiscal year.

On the expense side, payment gateway processing cost accounted for 53% of the total expense, this cost decreased by 2% to Rs 419 crore in FY25, from Rs 427 crore in FY24. The company’s other key expense items include employee benefits, marketing, and technology investments.

Its marketing expenses notably surged 150% to Rs 20 crore in FY25. The firm’s employee benefits costs remained flat at Rs 243 crore in FY25 from as compared to Rs 245 crore in FY24. Depreciation, finance cost and other overheads added another Rs 80 crore to the rising expenses.

In the end, Cashfree’s total costs increased 2% to Rs 795 crore from Rs 779 crore last year. The company’s control over overall expenses is a positive sign, despite growth in its market share.

Although top-line performance remained stable, the company’s net loss widened 14% to Rs 154 crore from Rs 135 crore in the previous fiscal. Its EBITDA loss increased to Rs 132 crore, pushing the EBITDA margin down to -20.63% from -17.42% the previous year.

In the coming year, Cashfree is expected to reduce its marketing expenses to lower losses and strengthen its financial position in FY26. The ban on real money gaming platforms is also expected to affect the business of payments firms including Cashfree significantly in the ongoing fiscal year.

Ahead of FY26, Cashfree raised $53 million in a round led by Krafton, marking its first funding in nearly four years. Overall, the company has raised $95 million from investors including Y Combinator, Smilegate Investments, and the State Bank of India.