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KhataBook, which provides digital loans and book keeping software ‘Khata’ to small business (Kiranas), maintained steady growth in financial year ending March 2023, while taking charge of its expenses. 

The fintech app’s operating revenue was up by 14% to Rs 81 crore. 

Despite a rise of 14%, Khatabook’s growth remained subdued compared to last year’s revenue of Rs 71 crore, which had taken a jump of over 300% from its previous fiscal, as per the consolidated results of its parent entity ADJ Utility Apps Pvt Ltd.

On the other hand, there was a slight 4% increase in losses to Rs 125 crore. They were over 3X higher at Rs 120 crore in FY22 compared to Rs 32 crore in FY21.  

A focus on cutting cost was seen in FY23 at Khatabook. 

The company’s total expenses remained stable at Rs 223 crore, a limited spike from Rs 201 crore the previous year, on the back of higher employee benefit expenses (salaries, wages, PPF, etc) which contributed to almost Rs 142 crore. 

The fintech managed to bring down its other expenses, especially advertisement and business promotion costs by 63% to Rs 4 crore. Payment and gateway charges, legal fees, and communication expenses were also brought down. 

Khatabook has been operating under parent brand ADJ Utility Apps Pvt Ltd since 2017, the Indian subsidiary of Kyte Technologies, Inc. (Kyte). ADJ also runs subsidiary Biz Analyst (Siliconveins Private Limited). 

Revenue breakdown 

The fintech’s majority operating revenue comes from software development services in domestic and international market, which stood at Rs 64 crore of the total Rs 81 crore the firm made in FY23. A significant chunk came from international market. 

The rest was contributed by financial and auxiliary services and Utility services, which stood at Rs 17 crore, a rise of 13%.

The company had a negative net cash flow from operating activities of Rs 110 crore as of March 31 this year, compared to Rs 120 crore last year, the filings showed. 

A negative cash flow from operations indicates that a company has more outgoing cash than incoming cash.

Backed by cricketer MS Dhoni and CRED’s Kunal Shah among others, the fintech app recently laid off over 40 employees across departments to cut costs and streamline operations.

The platform has raised $187 million to date from the likes of Tribe Capital, Moore Strategic, PeakXV and Better Capital, Alkeon Capital, Tencent, RTP Ventures and Unilever Ventures. 

The company was last valued at $600 million in August 2021, as per its Series C round.