Logistics Startup Porter Posts Loss Of INR 122 Cr In FY22, Revenue Grows 2.6X YoY

Sequoia-backed intracity logistics startup Porter reported a standalone loss of INR 122 Cr in the financial year 2021-22 (FY22). The startup had reported a net loss of INR 138.8 Cr in FY21. 

However, the loss numbers are not comparable as the FY21 number also included the performance of its “non-profitable” institutional business, which it sold.

“During the previous year, owing to COVID-19 pandemic, the company had reassessed its non-profitable business segment and accordingly approved the sale of its institutional business to a third party,” Porter said in its FY22 regulatory filing with the Ministry of Corporate Affairs.

In FY21, Porter had incurred a net loss of INR 63.9 Cr from continuing operations and INR 74.9 Cr from the business that was discontinued later. Hence, the startup’s loss from continuing operations widened in FY22 compared to the previous fiscal. 

Porter announced divestment of its FMCG modern trade business segment to COGOS Technologies in July 2022. However, Inc42 couldn’t ascertain till the time of publishing this story if the startup was referring to this divestment with the “sale of non-profitable business segment”. 

Meanwhile, Porter’s operating revenue jumped 2.6X to INR 847.7 Cr in FY22 from INR 322.2 Cr in FY21. As a tech-enabled logistics platform, Porter earns revenue primarily by providing goods transportation services and other ancillary services to its customers. 

Total revenue, including interest income, stood at INR 862 Cr in FY22 as against INR 327.9 Cr in the previous year.

Founded in 2014 by Pranav Goel, Vikas Chaudhary, and Uttam Digga, Porter claims to provide distance-based allocation, GPS tracking, proactive notifications, and more, to empower its driver partners.

In its FY22 filings, the startup said that it launched operations in new cities, including Lucknow, Jaipur, Indore, Coimbatore, Chandigarh, and Nagpur, during the year to add to Bengaluru and Delhi NCR, where it already had presence.

The expansion was in line with its announcement during its Series E funding round in October 2021. The startup then raised INR 750 Cr in a funding round led by Tiger Global Management and Vitruvian Partners, with participation from Sequoia and Lightrock India, to expand operations to a total of 35 Indian cities by 2023 from 13 cities then. 

Porter is currently present in 18 cities and claims to have over 5 Lakh driver partners.

In line with the expansion, Porter’s employee benefit expenses more than doubled to INR 106 Cr in FY22 from INR 48.8 Cr in the previous fiscal year. While it spent INR 87.5 Cr on salaries and wages, INR 9 Cr was spent towards share-based payments for employees during the year as compared to INR 5.3 Cr in FY21.

Porter spent the highest amount towards vehicle running expenses, which grew 2.5X to INR 786 Cr in FY22 from INR 307.6 Cr in the previous year. Total expenses during the reporting period stood at INR 984 Cr as against INR 391.8 Cr in FY21. 

Advertising and promotional expenses jumped almost 3.9X to INR 27.3 Cr in FY22 from INR 7 Cr in the previous fiscal year. The startup’s IT expenses also grew 72% year-on-year to INR 16.4 Cr during the reporting period.

In its filing, Porter said that it is expanding its operations at a global level and is looking forward to its first international launch in the UAE through its wholly-owned subsidiary Porter Technologies DMCC. 

Recently, Porter announced its Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP) liquidation scheme worth INR 50 Cr for both current and former employees.

Porter competes with the likes of COGOS, LetsTransport, Shift Freight, and Blowhorn. 

India’s highly competitive and fast-evolving logistics space, which has presence of companies like Delhivery, Xpressbees, and Blue Dart, is expected to reach a size of $556.97 Bn by 2027, expanding at a CAGR of 6.28% between 2022 and 2027.