Logistics unicorn Shiprocket, operated by Bigfoot Retail Solutions Pvt Ltd, posted an almost 80% increase in its revenue to Rs 1,089 crore for the financial year ended in March 2023, a top executive told VCCircle.
The Gurugram-based startup, which became a unicorn last year, saw its expenses balloon up in FY23 due to increased employee costs as well as expenditure related to mergers and acquisitions.
In an interaction with VCCircle, Saahil Goel, co-founder of Shiprocket, said that one of the major reasons for the increased expenses was that the company absorbed losses of Rs 184 crore from fulfillment and acquired businesses. Additionally, employee benefit expenses rose to Rs 318 crore from Rs 122 crore in FY22.
“The employee benefit costs include ESOP costs of Rs 88 crore, as well as the one-time payments incurred by way of the M&As,” said Goel.
Overall, the company’s loss widened to Rs 341 crore for FY23. That compares with a net loss of Rs 93.15 crore for FY22, according to VCCEdge, the data research platform of VCCircle.
“The core business continues to be profitable and the operating losses at most of our acquired companies have been minimised. The companies are on their growth trajectory along with improved profitability in the next (current) financial year,” said Goel.
The startup joined the much-coveted unicorn club in August 2022 after raising Rs 260 crore (around $33 million) from existing investors Temasek Holdings and Lightrock India.
Shiprocket made its fifth acquisition in July 2022, buying Arvind Ltd’s omnichannel software-as-a-service (SaaS) platform Omuni for about Rs 200 crore. Its other acquisitions include Pickrr, Glaucus, Rocketbox and Wigzo.
As for future acquisitions, Goel said it will be looking to engage with startups that are critical pieces of the entire pre-order journey of its merchants, unlike its previous acquisitions which were aimed at solving the post-order process.
Founded in 2017 by Goel, Gautam Kapoor, and Vishesh Khurana, Shiprocket offers logistics services to small and medium-sized businesses, direct-to-consumer (D2C) brands and social commerce sellers across a variety of categories.
