Serial entrepreneur Kunal Shah’s fintech startup Cred managed to narrow its operating loss to Rs 609 crore in the financial year through March 2024 from Rs 1,024 crore in the fiscal before on the back of a significant decline in marketing expenses.
Cred, which is backed by investors such as Singapore wealth fund GIC, Tiger Global, Falcon Edge, Sofina Ventures, Insight Partners, Coatue and Dragoneer, reported a 36% decline in its marketing expenses for FY24. It, however, didn’t share the absolute numbers.
The fintech firm, however, noted that despite the decline in marketing costs, its monthly transacting users (MTU) rose by 34%. It also pointed out that organic growth contributed to a 40% drop in customer acquisition costs.
“Contribution margins (CM), including all variable costs, grew over 20X. CRED has consistently been CM-positive for nine quarters consecutively,” the company said in a release.
Cred's revenue surged 66% to Rs 2,473 crore in FY24 from Rs 1,400 crore in the fiscal before. It noted that its focus on building trust and delivering value to affluent members helped it see growth in member engagement and monetisation while reducing costs.
Cred, which was last valued at about $6.4 billion, claimed that its new products gained traction with over 4.2 million vehicles parked on Cred garage in FY23-24 for challan and pollution certificate checks, FASTag recharges and insurance renewals.
“Meaningful growth comes from a sharp focus on high-quality users and creating exceptional experiences for them. The commitment to putting members first and rewarding trustworthy behaviour has driven growth, engagement, and trust across our ecosystem—benefiting members, merchants, and financial institutions alike,” said Shah, founder, Cred.
Founded in 2018, Bengaluru-based Cred started as an app that lets users pay credit card bills and rewards them in the form of “Cred” coins, which can be redeemed across many partner businesses. Since then, the firm has diversified into lending, payments, and e-commerce. It had last raised $80 million in a funding round led by GIC in 2022.