Gold Loan Provider Rupeek Narrows Loss By 68% In FY21

Bengaluru-based gold loan enabler Rupeek has managed to narrow down its loss by almost 68% in the last financial year FY21. The startup has clocked a loss of INR 156 Cr in FY21, a significant drop from INR 487 Cr it posted in March ended 2020. 

Rupeek also saw its income rise by 177% from INR 31.9 Cr in FY20 to INR 88.5 Cr in FY21. The gold loan provider’s revenue from operations increased to INR 25 Cr in FY21, a sharp rise from INR 11 Cr in FY20. Rupeek’s revenue from operations rose by three times from INR 20 Cr in Fy20 to INR 62 Cr in FY21.

In terms of expenses, the startup brought down burning of cash by 53% from FY20. As per the startup’s consolidated revenue balance sheet, it incurred a total expense of INR 245 Cr in FY21, as compared to INR 519 Cr it posted in FY20. 

While the startup managed to trim major expenses under its other expenses, it increased employee benefit expenses by 56% in FY21. The startup clocked INR 53 Cr for employee benefit expenses in FY20, which rose to INR 120 Cr in FY21. Employee benefit expenses majorly comprise of salary of employees and employee stock ownership program (ESOP). 

Rupeek was founded in 2015 by Sumit Maniyar and Ashwin Soni to enable gold loans lending and monetise India’s idle gold. The startup operates in over 30 cities in India and is connected to more than 500K customers. It wants to utilise $2 Tn worth of household gold that remains idle. 

In 2019, the startup had raised $30 Mn led by Bertelsmann India along with the participation from Accel and Sequoia India. Rupeek stands in strong competition with the likes of traditional gold lenders such as Manappuram Gold Loan, Muthoot Finance, ICICI Bank, among others.

Among the ecosystem, Deepak Abbot-led IndiaGold is one of its close competitors. In August, IndiaGold picked up $12 Mn in its Series A round led by Prosus NV and AlphaWave Incubation. The round also saw participation from 3One4 Capital and Rain Water Capital.