IPO-Bound Unicommerce Posts INR 6.4 Cr Profit In FY23, Revenue Nears INR 100 Cr Mark

IPO-bound SaaS startup Unicommerce’s operating revenue zoomed 52% to INR 90 Cr in the financial year 2022-23 from INR 59 Cr in the previous fiscal year on strong demand for its services.

This resulted in the SoftBank-backed startup’s net profit rising 8% to INR 6.4 Cr in FY23 from INR 5.9 Cr in FY22.

Unicommerce was launched by three classmates at IIT Delhi – Ankit Pruthi, Karun Singla and Vibhu Garg. It was later acquired by Snapdeal in 2015.

The startup enables end-to-end management of ecommerce operations for D2C brands, retail companies, and other online sellers through its comprehensive suite of SaaS-based technology products.

Unicommerce’s platform keeps track of stocks across multiple warehouses, keeps inventory information updated across multiple sales channels (both offline & online) and automates order pick-ups to support faster and more accurate deliveries.

The startup generates revenue by selling its SaaS solutions. Including other income, its total revenue stood at INR 92.9 Cr in FY23 as against INR 61.3 Cr in the previous fiscal year.

Where Did Unicommerce Spend?

The startup’s overall expense rose 55% to INR 84.1 Cr in FY23 from INR 54.4 Cr in the previous fiscal year.

Employee Costs The Biggest Expense: Being a SaaS startup, Unicommerce’s biggest expenditure is salary costs. In FY23, its employee benefit expenses stood at INR 62 Cr and accounted for 73% of the total expenditure. Unicommerce spent INR 42.3 Cr on employee costs in FY22, 47% lower than the number for FY23.

Advertising Expenses Rise: Unicommerce spent INR 3.9 Cr on advertising and promotional activities, an increase of 50% from INR 2.6 Cr in the previous fiscal year.

Server Cost: Server hosting cost increased 39% to INR 5.4 Cr from INR 3.28 Cr in FY22.

Besides India, Unicommerce also has operations in six other countries – including Indonesia, Philippines, Singapore, Malaysia, the UAE and Saudi Arabia. Its income from international operations more than tripled and accounted for 2.7% of its operating revenue during FY23. 

The startup counts the likes of Edamama, RedTag, RSA Global, and Airspeed among its clients.

Unicommerce is reportedly eyeing a public listing next year. Its parent entity AceVector Limited, which also owns Snapdeal, has tapped investment firm CLSA to manage its book-building process.

It must be noted that Snapdeal also filed its IPO papers with markets regulator SEBI in 2021, but later shelved its public listing plans amid weak investor sentiment due to global economic slowdown.