PhonePe’s Revenue Gets Closer To INR 3,000 Cr

(CTN News) – The fintech startup PhonePe has reported revenue of INR 2,914 Cr in the financial year ended March 31, 2023, an increase of almost 77% from INR 1,646 Cr in the previous financial year.

In a statement, the startup offered an explanation for the increase in revenue, stating that money transfers, mobile recharges, and bill payments are the main reasons for the growth.

A Walmart-owned company also stated that the revenue growth was driven by the launch and scale-up of new products and business models such as smart speakers, rent payments, and insurance distribution, among other things.

It should be noted that the startup did not disclose its net loss for the financial year 2022-23 (FY23) in the release.

At the end of August 2023, PhonePe reported that its smart speaker deployment stood at 4.1 million units. While this is going on, its market share as measured by the total payment value (TPV) for UPI in the month of March 2023 stood at 50.54%.

As far as UPI transactions are concerned, PhonePe competes against the likes of Paytm, Google Pay, and CRED.

It was claimed by PhonePe that the increase in total revenue helped its payments business report positive adjusted EBITDA (EBITDA before ESOP costs) as a result of the increase in total revenue.

PhonePe India Pvt Ltd’s EBITDA for the standalone entity, which houses the startup’s payments business, stood at INR -1,755 Cr in FY23, compared to INR -1,612 Cr in FY22, according to the company.

There was, however, a significant increase in adjusted EBITDA in FY23, from INR -455 Cr in FY22 to INR 159 Cr in FY23.

PhonePe stated that it had dispensed “substantial” ESOPs to its employees as part of a corporate restructuring program in FY23 without disclosing the precise numbers.

It is noteworthy that Phonepe raised the largest equity fundraise in the country’s startup ecosystem in FY23. While startups are finding it difficult to raise capital and are experiencing substantial markdowns, the startup secured a whopping INR 7,021 Cr ($850 Mn) at a staggering valuation of $12 Bn.

In addition, the company has relocated its headquarters from Singapore to India and has completed the separation process from the Flipkart Group.

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