Meesho Clinches Top Spot In Prosus’ India Portfolio In H1 FY24

Ecommerce major Meesho was the brightest star in investment giant Prosus’ India portfolio in the first half (H1) of the financial year 2023-24 (FY24). As per half-yearly financial data released by Prosus, Meesho clocked an internal return rate (IRR) of 32% for the investor. 

The ecommerce major played second fiddle only to Remitly and iFood, emerging as the third-biggest performer in the investor’s global startup portfolio. 

Following suit was homegrown B2B ecommerce solutions provider ElasticRun, which clinched an IRR of 31% for the Amsterdam-based investor. Despite nearly doubling its loss to INR 618.82 Cr in FY23, ElasticRun was the second best performer in Prosus’ India kitty. 

Fintech giant PayU India was also one of best performers of the investors’ India portfolio, recording returns in excess of 30%. In its investor presentation, the investor noted that PayU has significantly improved its profitability while recording ‘strong growth’ across the consolidated payments and fintech vertical. 

PayU India logged a 32% YoY growth in revenue to $497 Mn in H1 FY24 compared to $412 Mn in H1 FY23. Consolidated trading losses improved 72.5% YoY to $22 Mn in the six month period compared to $80 Mn in H1 FY23. 

Meanwhile, edtech platform Eruditus had an IRR of 22%, while foodtech decacorn Swiggy clocked an IRR of 7% in H1 FY24. 

Prosus held a 32.7% stake in Swiggy at the end of September 2023. The high returns of the foodtech giant were likely due to strong growth in GMV and declining trading losses. As per the financial statements, GMV surged 28% YoY in H1 FY24 while trading loss reduced to $208 Mn from $321 Mn in H1 FY23.

“Swiggy’s core food-delivery business grew 17% and delivered GMV of $1.43 Bn in the first six months of the year. This was led by a rise in transacting users that drove double-digit order growth and inflation in AOV. Core food-delivery EBITDA losses in H1 FY24 shrunk 89%, led by improvements in contribution margin and operating leverage…,” added Prosus.

Meanwhile, epharmacy major PharmEasy ended up as the biggest underperformer in the Indian portfolio of Prosus during the period under review, settling at an IRR of -41% in H1 FY24. 

Troubled edtech decacorn BYJU’S was another major underperformer for Prosus as it reported an IRR of -24% in H1 FY24. The Dutch investor also marked down the valuation of the edtech giant on its books to under $3 Bn, an 85% decline from $22 Bn during its last fund raise.

The mixed bag for Prosus largely comes on the back of improved market sentiment and the renewed focus of startups on profitability and sustainability. Overall, the investment major clocked an operating loss of $415 Mn in H1 FY24, up from $329 Mn in H1 FY23. A major chunk of losses came on the back of the recognition of impairment loss with respect to edtech investments.