Perfora manages 30X revenue growth in three years

Oral-care brand Perfora has experienced rapid growth over the past three fiscal years, with revenue surging 30X from Rs 1.4 crore in FY22 to over Rs 42 crore in FY24. This growth has been steered by the rising demand for electric toothbrushes and other oral care products.

On a year-on-year basis, Perfora’s revenue from operations grew 2.8X to Rs 42.2 crore in FY24 from Rs 15 crore in FY23, according to its consolidated financial statement sourced from the RoC.

Perfora offers personalized electric toothbrushes, toothpastes, alcohol-free mouthwashes, and other related offerings. The sale of these products remained the sole source of revenue for Perfora in FY24.

Advertising expenses were the largest cost center, increasing 3X to Rs 20.5 crore, accounting for 38% of total expenses. The cost of materials doubled to Rs 19.5 crore, while employee benefit expenses rose 2.8X year-on-year to Rs 3.7 crore. Other expenses, including administrative and operational costs, contributed Rs 10.3 crore in the last fiscal years. 

Overall, the DSG-backed company’s total expenses surged 2.6X, reaching Rs 54 crore in FY24 from Rs 20 crore in FY23.

By the end of FY24, Perfora’s losses more than doubled to Rs 10.6 crore from Rs 5 crore in FY23. Its Return on Capital Employed (ROCE) stood at -75.94%, while its EBITDA margin was -23.23%. On a unit level, Perfora spent Rs 1.28 to earn every rupee of operating revenue in FY24.

At the close of FY24, the Gurugram-based firm recorded current assets worth Rs 24 crore, including Rs 9.6 crore in cash and bank balances.

According to startup data intelligence platform TheKredible, Perfora has raised a total of $4 million of funding till date, having Sauce as its lead investor with 16% stake. The company’s co-founders Jatan Bawa and Tushar Khurana together own 48.5% of the company.

Perfora fits into the sort of bet investors make based on lived experience, leaving a lot of scope for wildly off estimates. The electric toothbrush and related stuff that Perfora sells fits into that thesis, with very limited data available on actual potential. As it's not just a matter of affordability. While it has done well to show some potential in the market, and the overall market is surely much bigger, we believe it has not done enough to prove whatever thesis it possibly started with. It's either that, or a blockbuster FY25 is badly needed to prove detractors wrong.