Logistics unicorn ‘s operating revenue rose in FY 2022-23 on the back of business growth. However, elevated expenses resulted in wider losses compared to the previous fiscal year.
The Delhi-based company clocked an operating revenue of Rs 1,089 crore in FY23—an 80% increase from Rs 611.1 crore recorded in the previous fiscal year, Saahil Goel, Co-founder and CEO of Shiprocket told YourStory.
The proportion of non-shipping revenue showed significant year-on-year growth, with a substantial Rs 251 crore of the total gross margin in FY23 derived from technology offerings, as per Goel.
The firm’s losses increased to Rs 341 crore in FY23 from Rs 93.15 crore in the previous financial year.
The losses were driven by three primary factors: absorbing Rs 184 crore in losses from fulfilment and acquired businesses during their first year of operations, ESOP costs, and recording exceptional costs of Rs 71 crore related to investments and acquisitions, Goel noted.
However, he added that Shiprocket’s core business remained “quite profitable” as of September 2023, and the company has successfully leveraged synergies with its acquired companies, which are now on a growth trajectory, along with improved profitability in the current financial year (FY24).
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The company’s expenses also surged, driven by the consolidation of expenses from recent acquisitions and the inclusion of expenses related to the fulfilment business. Its spending included Rs 318 crore on employee benefits—a 160% year-on-year rise—with Rs 88 crore allocated to the employee stock ownership plan.
In the past year, Shiprocket strengthened and consolidated its business through five strategic acquisitions—ROCKETBOX (cargo shipping business), Glaucus (supply chain management platform), Wigzo (marketing automation platform), Pickrr (logistics aggregator), and Omuni (Arvind Internet’s retail enablement business).
“It has been a very deliberate journey to do these acquisitions, which would have taken us maybe 3X the time to do it ourselves,” the Shiprocket chief shared during a separate chat with Shradha Sharma, Founder and CEO of YourStory.
Founded by Saahil Goel, Gautam Kapoor and Vishesh Khurana, Shiprocket said it enables more than Rs 25,000 crore in annual sales for over 1,00,000 online businesses, covering the entire ecommerce spectrum, including marketing, payments, checkout, warehousing, shipping, and customer experience.
The company turned a unicorn earlier in August 2022, valued at $1.3 billion after a round of $32.6 million backed by returning investors Lightrock, Temasek, Bertelsmann, Moore Strategic Ventures, and others. Last month, Shiprocket secured $11 million in additional funding during an extended Series E round from McKinsey that was facilitated through its investment entity AFOS.
Edited by Kanishk Singh
