BluSmart’s FY22 Loss Jumps 66% To INR 65.5 Cr As Expenses Surge

Delhi NCR-based electric mobility startup BluSmart Mobility’s consolidated net loss widened 66% year-on-year (YoY) to INR 65.5 Cr in the financial year 2021-22 (FY22) on the back of a sharp jump in expenses. 

BluSmart’s net loss stood at INR 39.4 Cr in FY21. The electric ride-hailing company’s bottom line took a hit in FY22 despite strong business growth. 

In FY22, BluSmart’s operating revenue more than tripled to INR 28.9 Cr from INR 8.9 Cr in the previous fiscal year. It earned the biggest chunk of revenue from sale of services. 

Including interest income, the startup reported a total revenue of INR 32.3 Cr in FY22, up from INR 9.2 Cr in the previous year.

Founded in 2019 by Anmol Singh Jaggi and Punit K Goyal, BluSmart provides electric cab ride-hailing services and charging infrastructure in Bengaluru and Delhi-NCR. Since inception, the startup claims to have completed over 5.3 Mn rides.

BluSmart’s business growth in FY22 was in line with its aggressive expansion plans. The startup had raised $25 Mn in its Series A round led by bp ventures in September 2021. Announcing the fundraise, the startup said it was preparing to extend its EV fleets and charging stations from Delhi to five other cities.

However, this expansion also led to a significant jump in the company’s expenses. BluSmart’s total expenses doubled to INR 97.8 Cr in FY22 from INR 48.7 Cr in FY21.

At INR 23.8 Cr, driver expenses jumped 2.2X from INR 10.9 Cr in FY21 and accounted for the biggest chunk of expenses. 

Lease rent also jumped almost 2X to INR 19.9 Cr in FY22 from INR 10.4 Cr in the prior fiscal. BluSmart does not own its fleet and procures the vehicles in a lease model.

Besides, the company’s hub rent expenses, software expenses, toll tax and road tax expenses, spending on advertisement & business promotions and discounts, and growing expenses in several other buckets resulted in total miscellaneous expenses of INR 67.2 Cr, up 90% YoY.

BluSmart also spent INR 11.1 Cr towards legal professional charges, which jumped 3.3X YoY. The startup’s employee benefit expenses stood at INR 10.1 Cr in FY22 as against INR 8.2 Cr in FY21.

Besides bp ventures, BluSmart is also backed by marquee investors like 9Unicorns, Suvan Partners, BlackSoil, Stride Ventures, and Alteria Capital. 

Last month, Mayfield India, which had invested around INR 15.5 Cr in BluSmart, exited the startup.

As part of its aggressive expansion plans, the startup recently bagged $42 Mn in a funding round. It plans to take its fleet size to 10,000 in FY24 from around 3,500 vehicles it had in May.

BluSmart competes with Bengaluru-based Lithium, Delhi-based eee-Taxi, Kolkata-based Snap-E Cabs as well as giants like Ola and Uber.