Gupshup’s Net Profit Jumps Over 43% To INR 52.5 Cr In FY21

Enterprisetech unicorn Gupshup’s consolidated profit jumped over 43% to INR 52.5 Cr in financial year 2020-21 (FY21) from INR 36.5 in FY20, driven by a steady top-line growth.

Gupshup’s revenue from operations grew about 30% year-on-year (YoY) in FY21 to INR 739 Cr from INR 568.6 Cr in the previous fiscal year, as per its regulatory filing. Helped by the sharp rise in operating revenue, Gupshup’s total revenue also increased to INR 747.7 Cr from INR 573.6 Cr in FY20.

The startup earns its revenue primarily by providing mobile messaging services and mobile advertisement through text messages.

San Francisco-headquartered Gupshup is an AI-powered conversational messaging platform that enables conversation between businesses and their customers. The startup claims that it sends out over 9 Bn messages every month and counts brands like Kotak Mahindra Bank, HDFC Bank, Ola, Zomato, and Flipkart among its customers.

Gupshup’s total expenses rose 29% YoY to INR 671 Cr in FY21 from INR 518.4 Cr in FY20, primarily driven by a rise in cost of materials consumed. The startup’s material costs grew 31% to INR 565.2 Cr, contributing 84% of its total expenses.

While employee benefit expenses rose to INR 34.9 Cr in FY21 from INR 28.9 Cr in FY20, advertising and promotional expenses shot up 34.8% to INR 17.8 Cr. 

Gupshup’s miscellaneous expenses also zoomed 31% to INR 18.3 Cr. However, the startup didn’t specify the items considered under the head. It also spent INR 16.6 Cr on telephone postage in FY21 as against INR 12.8 Cr in FY20.

The startup’s consolidated statement also comprises the financial numbers of its subsidiaries – GS Digital Technology, Lotus Transforms, and Teledata Marketing Services.

Gupshup was incorporated in 2004 and entered India’s unicorn club in April 2021 after raising $100 Mn in Series F financing round from Tiger Global Management, which valued the company at $1.4 Bn.

Gupshup then said that over 80% of its business comes from India, followed by the US and Latin America. Since last year, the company is reportedly eyeing its initial public offering (IPO) as well.

In India, Gupshup competes with Bengaluru-based Yellow Messenger, Verloop, Haptik, among others.

Last month, it acquired AI-enabled customer engagement platform OneDirect in an all-cash deal.

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