Pratilipi’s Loss Shrinks 22% As Revenue Quadruples YoY In FY23

Bengaluru-based self-publishing platform Pratilipi’s losses shrank 22% year-on-year (YoY) in the financial year 2022-23 (FY23) on the back of a steep rise in revenues.

Pratilipi posted a loss of INR 152.64 Cr in FY23 against INR 196.44 Cr in FY22, its filings with the Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA) showed.

Meanwhile, the startup’s revenue from operations grew to INR 34.89 Cr in FY23 from INR 7.88 Cr in FY22 on the back of a spurt in overseas activity.

Reading Between Pratilipi’s Top Line 

The self-publishing platform posted a total income of INR 40.14 Cr during the year ended March 31, 2023, up 179.50% YoY. The startup has three main revenue streams – content and premium subscription services, brand advertising services, and the sale of books.

However, the revenue from content and premium subscriptions accounted for most of Pratilipi’s total revenue in FY23 at INR 17.35 Cr, up from INR 3.11 Cr in FY22. The startup also sold books worth INR 6.58 Cr in FY23, nearly 307X higher than a mere INR 2.14 Lakh a fiscal ago.

Domestic Market Shines: The majority of Pratilipi’s revenue came from the Indian market in the year ended March 31, 2023. Specifically, the startup’s revenue from India reached INR 31.23 Cr in FY23, up 296.32% from INR 7.88 Cr in FY22.

Pratilipi Goes International: The year under review was the first year ever that the Bengaluru-based self-publishing platform reported revenue from overseas markets. During FY23, Pratilipi posted a revenue of INR 3.66 Cr from international markets.

The startup’s other income declined around 19% YoY to INR 5.25 Cr in FY23.

Expenses Continue To Drag Down Pratilipi 

In FY23, Pratilipi reported a total expense of INR 192.79 Cr, down 8.54% YoY. The decline in total expenditure was mostly led by the falling business promotion expenses.

Employee Benefit Expenses Double: Pratilipi spent INR 59.44 Cr paying its employees in FY23, up 105% YoY. 

Other Expenses Dip: The Bengaluru-based startup reported INR 118.78 Cr in ‘other expenses’ in FY23, down around 33% YoY. A major chunk of these expenses were put down as business promotion expenses, which also included payments to authors. In FY23, Pratilipi spent INR 50.84 Cr in business promotion, up 195.23% from INR 17.22 Cr the year before.

A Threefold Jump In Stock Purchased: For a mostly service-based startup, Pratilipi purchased INR 7.54 Cr worth of stock in trade during FY23, up 171% from INR 2.78 Cr in the financial year ended March 31, 2022. The stock here could refer to the books it sold during the year, which recorded a 307X rise in sales over the financial year.

Founded in 2015 by Ranjeet Pratap Singh, Sankaranarayanan Devarajan, Rahul Ranjan and Sahradayi Modi, Pratilipi is an Indian language storytelling platform, which connects readers and writers in 12 languages. The startup also claims to have an extensive readership and listener base of up to 15 Mn subscribers and be home to over 9.5 Lakh writers. 

Pratilipi, backed by the likes of Tencent, Omidyar Network, WEH Ventures, Times Internet, and Nexus Ventures Partners, has raised a total funding of $80.6 Mn since its inception.

The startup recently penned a deal with Disney Star that would allow the latter to develop multiple new fiction television shows adapted from stories available on the platform.

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