Tiger Global-backed ecommerce startup Dealshare, which shut its business-to-business vertical and laid off several employees in the process last year, saw its net sales in the financial year through March 2024 shrink to about a fourth of the previous year’s level.
The startup, which moved its headquarters to Gurugram from Jaipur during the fiscal year, reported Rs 499 crore in operating revenue on a consolidated basis in FY24, according to its annual report accessed by VCCEdge. This is about 75% less than its operating revenue of Rs 1,964 crore in FY23.
The major reason for this plunge was lower revenue from the sale of goods, which dropped to Rs 496 crore in FY24 from Rs 1,956 crore in FY23.
The results reflect a tumultuous FY24, when Dealshare saw three of its four co-founders—Vineet Rao, Sourjyendu Medda and Sankar Bora–leaving the firm in an investor-led restructuring.
Rao was the company’s chief executive and resigned in July, followed by Bora in November and Medda in January. Since January, the company has been led by Kamaldeep Singh, who was previously the president of its retail business.
Meanwhile, Dealshare managed to cut its net loss to about Rs 168 crore in FY24 from a loss of Rs 503 crore in FY23.
Purchases of stock-in-trade, which declined on a yearly basis, was the highest cost head for Dealshare at Rs 505 crore. The company cut its employee expenses to more than a half to Rs 99.2 crore. It let go of more than 200 of its employees during 2023.
Founded in 2018 by Rao, Medda, Bora and Rajat Shikhar, the startup offers grocery, essentials and home care products mostly in tier II cities and beyond through its app. The company targeted middle- and lower-income groups initially through a community group buying model and later pivoted to a hybrid model that banked on offline stores for a retail online supermarket.
The company had raised $130 million in a Series E round from Tiger Global, Alpha Wave Global and other investors in January 2022, joining the unicorn club of startups with a valuation of at least $1 billion. Later that year, it secured $45 million from Abu Dhabi Investment Authority at a valuation of $1.7 billion in a Series E extension round.