SUMMARY
Zeta’s revenue from operations rose to INR 297 Cr in FY21, a 2.4X jump from INR 121.5 Cr in FY20
The startup’s loss widened 2.1X to INR 43 Cr from INR 20.3 Cr in FY20
Led by a 249% surge in employee benefit expenses, Zeta’s total expenses rose 142% to INR 347 Cr
Despite reporting a 2.4X jump in its standalone total revenue in the financial year 2020-21 (FY21), fintech unicorn Zeta’s loss widened 2.1X to INR 43 Cr during the year.
The total revenue of Better World Technology Private Limited, the parent entity of Zeta India, rose to INR 305.4 Cr in FY21 from INR 125.5 Cr in FY20. Total expenses surged 142% to INR 347 Cr from INR 143 Cr in the previous year.
The Bhavin Turakhia-led fintech unicorn’s revenue from operations rose 144.5% to INR 297 Cr from INR 121.5 Cr in FY20.
The rise in the San Francisco headquartered financial infrastructure provider’s operating revenue can be attributed to the increased dependency on online payments both in the B2B and B2C space. As the pandemic wrecked havoc across the world, online payments found more acceptance during FY21.
The startup’s other income rose to INR 8.2 Cr in FY21 from INR 3.9 Cr in the earlier year.
Employee Expenses Shoot Up
The rise in Zeta India’s total expenses was led by employee benefit expenses. The startup’s employee benefit expenses surged 249% to INR 290 Cr from INR 83 Cr in FY20, and contributed 83.5% to the total expenditure. It also indicates that Zeta India increased its headcount during the year.
Employee benefit expenses usually comprise employee wages, PF contribution, gratuity, and other employee welfare benefits.
Among other expenses, the startup spent INR 8 Cr on legal professional charges and INR 2.8 Cr on training recruitment in FY21. In FY20, it had spent INR 7 Cr and INR 5 Cr on legal professional charges and training recruitment, respectively.
Founded by Turakhia and Ramiki Gaddipati in 2015, Zeta offers a cloud-native neo-banking platform for issuance of credit, debit and prepaid products that helps companies launch retail and corporate products. It also offers digitised solutions to enterprises such as automated cafeteria billing and more.
Zeta’s offerings are available in India, Brazil, Spain, Philippines,Vietnam, among others. The startup entered the unicorn club in May last year after raising $250 Mn in a funding round led by Masayoshi Son’s SoftBank at a valuation of $1.45 Bn.
It competes with the likes of M2P, Open, and Razorpay in the Indian market. India’s fintech market is estimated to soar to $1.3 Tn by 2025, growing at a CAGR of 31% during 2021-2025 period, according to an Inc42 report.
