Neobanking Unicorn Open’s FY22 Loss Widens 155% YoY To INR 167 Cr, Operating Revenue Up 7X

Neobanking startup Open reported a 155% year-on-year (YoY) rise in standalone net loss to INR 167.5 Cr in the financial year 2021-22 (FY22) as its expenses grew in line with the business growth.

The Bengaluru-based startup, which became India’s 100th unicorn in May 2022 after raising $50 Mn in a round led by IIFL, had posted a net loss of INR 65.7 Cr in FY21.

Open’s operating revenue jumped over 617% or 7.1X to INR 40.9 Cr in FY22 from INR 5.7 Cr in the previous fiscal year.

As a neobank that offers business banking, payments, and expense management services to small and mid-sized businesses (SMBs) across the country, Open earns a majority of its revenue from the sale of services. The unicorn breaks down its sales revenue or income from the sale of services into two major categories – subscription revenue and commission on services.

Open earned INR 33.3 Cr as subscription revenue in FY22, up 816% YoY, while its commission on services jumped over 272% to INR 7.6 Cr.

Including its other non-operating income, Open’s total revenue rose to INR 56.3 Cr in FY22 from INR 15.7 Cr in the prior fiscal year.

Founded in 2017 by Anish Achuthan, Ajeesh Achuthan, Mabel Chacko, and Deena Jacob,  Open’s digital business payment solutions provide businesses with a fully-digital current account and a host of other integrated business-enabling tools pertaining to finance, accounting and credit, each in partnership with banking and lending partners. It has three major products – Open Flo, Open Settl, and Open Capital.

The startup claims that its services are used by 25 Lakh businesses in India.

On the expenses front, Open’s total expenditure jumped 2.7X to INR 223.8 Cr in FY22 from INR 81.4 Cr in the previous year, with employee benefit expenses alone accounting for about 48% of it. 

The startup spent INR 107.1 Cr towards employee benefits during the year, up 2.3X from INR 46.9 Cr in FY21. In that, INR 78.6 Cr was spent towards salaries, wages, and bonuses, up about 141% YoY. Besides, Open also spent INR 22.5 Cr on employee stock compensation expenses as against INR 12.5 Cr in FY21.

In FY22, Open’s advertising and promotional expenses surged 6.8X to INR 68.8 Cr from INR 10 Cr in FY21. The startup spent INR 14.7 Cr on technical services in the reporting period as against INR 4 Cr in FY21.

Open has raised a total funding of about $190 Mn till date. During its latest fundraise, which gave Open the unicorn status, the startup said it would use the fresh funds to accelerate its product offerings on SME lending. 

Recently, Open also received the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) in-principle approval for payment aggregator licence.