Neobanking soonicorn Jupiter Money’s consolidated net loss more than doubled to INR 327 Cr in the financial year 2022-23 (FY23) from INR 156.3 Cr in the previous fiscal, hurt by a sharp jump in its employee benefit expenses.
The startup’s bottom line took a hit despite an over 1,500% jump in operating revenue to INR 7.1 Cr in the reported period from INR 42 Lakh in FY22.
Founded in 2019 by serial entrepreneur Jitendra Gupta, Jupiter offers a range of financial services, including debit cards, SIPs, mutual funds, personalised savings options, expense management, and UPI payments. The startup earns a majority of its revenue from sale of services.
In FY23, its revenue from sale of services stood at INR 5.3 Cr, while other operating revenue, including collaboration and subscription fees, stood at INR 1.8 Cr.
Including interest income and other non-operating income, Jupiter’s total revenue stood at INR 56 Cr in FY23 as against INR 22.1 Cr in the previous fiscal year.
It is pertinent to note that Jupiter managed to improve its income despite the fintech major, along with several other fintech players, facing regulatory challenges during the period. Jupiter had to stop its prepaid credit line offering after the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) issued guidelines saying non-banks can’t load their prepaid payment instruments (PPI) with credit lines.
Zooming Into The Expenses
Jupiter’s total expenses zoomed 114.6% to INR 382.9 Cr in FY23 from INR 178.4 Cr in the previous fiscal year, with employee benefit expenses being the largest contributor.
Employee Costs Surge: The fintech startup’s employee benefit expenses jumped almost 150% to INR 158.5 Cr in FY23 from INR 63.6 Cr in the previous year. In that, Jupiter spent INR 124.8 Cr on salaries and wages in the reported period.
The company spent INR 23.4 Cr on employee share based payments (cash settled) in FY23 as against INR 11.4 Cr in FY22.
Advertising Costs Rise: Jupiter’s advertising and promotional expenses rose almost 50% to INR 74.5 Cr in FY23 from INR 50.1 Cr in FY22. Promotional expenses during the year under review stood at over 10X of operating revenue.
Other Major Costs: The startup’s processing cost increased 487% year-on-year (YoY) to INR 76.4 Cr, while software and technology expenses jumped 52% YoY to INR 30 Cr in FY23. After-sales service expenses, including customer retention cost and customer support cost, also increased 19% YoY to INR 15.3 Cr in the reported year.
On a unit economics basis, Jupiter spent INR 54 to earn every rupee from operations in FY23.
Jupiter is backed by the likes of Tiger Global, Peak XV, and Matrix Partners, among others. In FY23, the startup raised INR 100 Cr ($12.12 Mn) in a venture debt funding round from Alteria Capital for building and scaling up its lending products.
During the year under review, Jupiter also acquired HRtech startup sumHR.
Recently, Jupiter secured a non-banking finance company (NBFC) licence from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI). In September 2023, it appointed ex-Swiggy executive Anuj Rathi as its chief product and marketing officer.
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