Ninjacart FY21 Loss Nearly Doubles To INR 1,021 Cr, Expenses Up 71% Despite Cost-Cutting Measures

Walmart-backed agritech startup Ninjacart’s net loss almost doubled to INR 1,021 Cr in the financial year 2020-21 (FY21) from INR 537.2 Cr in FY20, regulatory filing by the startup’s parent company, 63Ideas Infolabs, showed.

On the other hand, the startup’s revenue from operations grew 60% year-on-year (YoY) to INR 747.6 Cr in FY21. 

Ninjacart saw a 71% increase in its total expenses for the year to INR 1,790.4 Cr as its other expenses and spending on purchases of stock-in-trade saw a significant increase.

The startup’s other expenses, which include expenditure on transportation, distribution and secondary packing, grew almost three-fold to INR 917.8 Cr in FY21 from INR 321.4 Cr in FY20. 

Expenses for purchases of stock-in-trade grew over 38% to INR 673 Cr in FY21.

The rise in total expenses was despite the startup managing to bring down employee benefit expenses, finance costs.

The startup’s total employee benefit expenses stood at INR 161 Cr in FY21 as against INR 195.3 Cr in FY20. In this context, it is important to note that Ninjacart had laid off more than 200 employees across its key geographies, including Bengaluru, Mumbai, Chennai, and Hyderabad, in 2021.

Inc42 had exclusively reported the development in February last year where it was noted that the startup was in a ‘cost-saving’ mode for a few months and decided to reduce its staff across ground operations, middle and senior management. 

The startup’s finance costs declined to INR 9.8 Cr in FY21 from INR 14 Cr in the previous fiscal year. 

Ninjacart, founded in May 2015 by Thirukumaran Nagarajan, Sachin Jose, Sharath Loganathan,  Kartheeswaran KK, Ashutosh Vikram and Vasudevan Chinnathambi, sources staples, fruits, vegetables, and other groceries from farmers and supplies them to supermarkets and other kirana stores. It is backed by several marquee investors, including Tiger Global, Flipkart, Qualcomm Ventures, and Accel. 

Ninjacart raised $145 Mn from Flipkart in December 2021, valuing the startup at $700 Mn to $800 Mn. The startup is one of the soonicorns in India.

In March this year, Ninjacart acquired SaaS-based end-to-end solutions provider Tecxprt, for an undisclosed amount.

Recently, it also decided to back other agritech startups. Ninjacart announced a $25 Mn fund, called Agri Seed Fund, to invest in such startups. 

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