Bengaluru-based fintech unicorn Razorpay’s profit jumped by over 4X in the financial year ending on March 31, 2024. The Peak XV-backed startup has reported a profit of INR 33.5 Cr, a 365% jump from INR 7.2 Cr it reported in the previous year.
The startup’s rise in profit is credited to its increase in operating revenue. In FY24, the startup’s operating revenue rose by 9% to INR 2,475 Cr as against INR 2,283 Cr in the previous fiscal year.
The startup generates most of its revenue through payment commission fees that it earns by providing online payment services to merchants. As a result it earned INR 2,068.1 Cr from payment aggregation services, which is 83% of the startup’s total operating revenue in FY24.
Including other income, the startup’s total revenue stood at INR 2,501.4 Cr in FY24, a 9% higher than INR 2,279.3 Cr in the previous fiscal year.
Founded by Shashank Kumar and Harshil Mathur in 2014, Razorpay is an omnichannel payments and banking platform. The startup has forayed into SME payroll management, banking, lending, payments, insurance among others over the years.
Where Did Razorpay Spend?
The fintech startup managed to control its expenses during the year under review with the rise in operating revenue outpacing the rise in its expenditure. In FY24, the startup’s total expenditure stood at INR 2,454.3 Cr, a 7% increase from INR 2,283.1 Cr it reported last fiscal year.
Hosting Charges, Other Expenses: As per the startup’s financial statements, the startup spent INR 1,728.1 Cr for its hosting charges, this was 12% higher than INR 1,539 Cr in the previous year. Besides hosting charges, this expense head also comprises advertising expenditure, thus making it the biggest expenditure.
Employee Costs: Interestingly, the startup’s employee costs took a minute dip in the ongoing financial year. In FY24, the startup spent INR 612 Cr, a 4% lower than INR 637.5 Cr, indicating dip in employee headcount.
Legal Professional Charges: The startup spent INR 17.1 Cr as legal professional expenses in FY24, a 7% higher than INR 16 Cr it spent in the previous fiscal year.
The startup’s cash and cash equivalents at the end of the financial year stood at INR 902 Cr, 1.2% lower than INR 913.5 Cr in FY23.
The startup has raised over $740 Mn, with notable investors including GIC, Tiger Global, and Lightspeed Ventures. In its latest funding, i.e. in December 2021, it secured $375 Mn at a valuation of $7.5 Bn.
Earlier this year, the startup’s offline payments arm – Razorpay POS launched Q-Zap for offline retailers to reduce billing time. Last month, it launched DataSync, a no-code data integration platform that claims to offer real-time data access to enable businesses to timely improve their financial reporting and strengthen fraud detection.
Razorpay is among the growing lists of Indian tech startups that are shifting their domicile from foreign land to India to save taxes and also to list the company in the country’s stock exchanges. As per media reports, the startup will have to end up paying $200 Mn (~ INR 1,600 Cr).
