IPO-Bound PayMate’s FY23 Loss Narrows Marginally To INR 55.7 Cr

IPO-bound B2B payments solutions provider PayMate managed to narrow its consolidated net loss by a marginal 3.5% year-on-year (YoY) to INR 55.7 Cr in the financial year 2022-23 (FY23).

In FY22, the startup’s loss stood at INR 57.7 Cr on an operating revenue of INR 1,208.9 Cr.

PayMate’s operating revenue rose 11.7% YoY to INR 1,350.1 Cr in FY23.

As a payment solutions provider for enterprises and SMEs, PayMate earns a majority of revenue from sale of services. The PayMate platform provides an upgrade from traditional paper-based workflows to software-driven workloads with digital payment streams like digital invoicing and several complementary features.

It recognises revenue when it transfers control over a product or service to the customer. As per its regulatory filing, when PayMate acts as an agent for selling goods or services, only the commission income is included in the revenue. It also earns some revenue as service fee from merchants.

Speaking about the rise in sales in FY23, PayMate said in a recent statement that it saw a 84.53% surge in adoption among customers as compared to FY22, taking the total count of customers beyond 390,000. 

The company, with a large customer base in India and the UAE, is now also expanding to Central Europe, Middle East, and Africa (CEMEA) and the Asia-Pacific (APAC) regions. 

It also claimed to have achieved a total payment volume of INR 84,519 Cr in FY23, registering a 21% YoY rise.

“During the last financial year, we focused on operational efficiency and driving growth. Throughout this period, we were able to maintain efficient operations and grow our gross profit year-over-year while expanding our customer base and enhancing collaboration opportunities within the fintech ecosystem,” said Ajay Adiseshan, founder and CEO of PayMate, in the statement.

Last year, PayMate had said in a statement to Inc42 that its gross profit was INR 1.4 Cr. As per our calculation, its gross profit in FY23 was over INR 11 Cr.

Following an increase in its non-operating income, such as interest on income tax refunds and others, PayMate’s total revenue stood at INR 1,351.6 Cr in FY23 as against INR 1,209.2 Cr in the prior year.

PayMate’s Expenses In FY23

The fintech startup’s total expenses increased 11% to INR 1,407.3 Cr during the year under review from INR 1,266.9 Cr in FY22. In that, the cost of materials accounted for a significant 95%.

Cost Of Materials Consumed: PayMate spent INR 1,339 Cr in this bucket, which increased almost 11% from INR 1,207.5 Cr in FY22.

Employee Cost: PayMate’s employee benefit expenses increased slightly by 1.6% to INR 50.5 Cr in FY23 from INR 49.7 Cr a year ago.

Of this, spending on salaries and wages stood at INR 32.7 Cr as against INR 24.2 Cr in FY22.

Advertising Promotional Expenses: PayMate’s ad expenses more than tripled to INR 1.3 Cr in the reported period from INR 44.7 Lakh in FY22.

Founded in 2006 by Adiseshan, PayMate is backed by Visa, Lightbox, Recruit Strategic Partners, and several other marquee names. The startup first filed its DRHP with the SEBI in 2022 but did not go for an IPO given tumultuous market conditions.

Earlier this year, the company told Inc42 it would likely refile its DRHP in the near future, subject to regulatory processes and market conditions. However, it is yet to refile the draft papers for IPO.