Dezerv reports Rs 26 Cr revenue and Rs 75 Cr loss in FY24

Wealth management startup Dezerv raised Rs 265 crore in a Series B funding round in July 2024, driven by its strong financial performance in the previous fiscal year. The Premji Invest-backed firm’s revenue from operations surged 160% during the fiscal year ending March 2024, though its losses also grew by 95% in the same period.

Deserve’s revenue from operations jumped to Rs 26.25 crore in FY24 from Rs 10.20 crore in FY23, its consolidated financial statements sourced from the Registrar of Companies (RoC) show.

The company’s total income, including non-operating income of Rs 8 lakhs, stood at Rs 26.33 crore during the last fiscal year.

Dezerv offers portfolio management service (PMS) to working professionals with expert advice, direct bonds, and angel investment opportunities in startups. It targets high net-worth individuals (HNIs) who can invest Rs 15 lakhs to several crore rupees. 

Employee benefit expenses emerged as the largest cost contributor, surging by 113.6% to Rs 63.34 crore. This cost accounted for 63% of total expenses in the last fiscal year. Meanwhile, marketing investments surged more than three-fold to Rs 18.48 crore in FY24. Legal and miscellaneous expenses stood at Rs 4.13 crore and Rs 14.89 crore, respectively. Overall, the company’s total expenses climbed 108.3% to Rs 100.84 crore from Rs 48.42 crore in the previous year.

To check complete Expense Breakdown visit thekredible.comView full data

On the back of sizable investment in advertising, Dezerv reported a 95.1% spike in its losses which stood at Rs 74.53 crore for FY24, as compared to Rs 38.20 crore in FY23. Its ROCE and EBITDA Margin stood at -64.9% and -267.45% respectively.

On a unit basis, it spent Rs 3.84 to earn a rupee of operating revenue in FY24, while it reported Rs 100 crore in Cash and Bank Balances and Rs 122 crore of current assets in FY24.

It is worth noting that the company reported Rs 1,009 crore in revenue for FY23. However, when it filed its FY24 financials, the FY23 numbers were reflected as Rs 10.22 crore only. This discrepancy appears to result from changes in the company’s accounting policies. Entrackr has reached out to the founder, Sandeep Jethwani on Tuesday, for clarification regarding these numbers, but we have not received a response yet.

Dezerv has raised around $60 million to date. According to TheKredible, Premji Invest controls 9.84% of the cap table while Elevation Capital, Matrix, and Accel command 15.28%, 15.28%, and 11.46% of the company, respectively.

In an expanding economy where the consensus view is that financial literacy is still very low even among the affluent, the case for Dezerv is understandable. However, the actual conversion of Indians to financial investments remains a very tough task, leaving most firms in the business to fight for a tiny slice of the ‘professional’ market. Dezerv too doesn't seem too keen to go beyond this market, leading to a high cost structure and promotion costs. It risks turning into yet another met too in a crowded market, instead of actually cracking open a new segment.