Amazon-backed BankBazaar targeting break-even by end of FY19, says CEO Adhil Shetty

Online financial services marketplace BankBazaar is aiming to turn profitable on an operating level in the last quarter of the current financial year, chief executive officer Adhil Shetty said.

The company shrank its loss on earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) for the year through March 2018 and almost doubled net revenue. This helped improve the EBITDA margin, Shetty told TechCircle. He didn't disclose actual EBITDA numbers. 

BankBazaar, operated by A & A Dukaan Financial Services Pvt. Ltd, said in a separate statement its operating revenue jumped 91% to Rs 103 crore for 2017-18 from Rs 54 crore the year before. Total revenue, which includes non-operating income, rose to Rs 118 crore from Rs 71 crore.

However, this is lower than the 150% growth in revenue the company projected in January.

According to the company, the revenue growth was due to an increase in organic visits to its platform, which accounted for almost 70% of the total traffic.

BankBazaar did not disclose its loss figures for 2017-18. In 2016-17, the company had registered a standalone net loss of Rs 92 crore and an EBITDA loss of Rs 87.8 crore.

Established in 2008 by brothers Adhil and Arjun Shetty along with Rati Rajkumar, the financial services firm provides customised quotes on loans, credit cards and insurance products. 

In India, BankBazaar has partnered with more than 75 financial institutions and offers 12 products including insurance, mutual funds and the banking products it began with.

Shetty had told VCCircle last year that the company had set up a subsidiary in Singapore and was looking to foray into Malaysia, the Philippines and the UAE.

BankBazaar has so far raised $110 million from investors such as Amazon, Experian, Fidelity Growth Partners and Sequoia Capital.
In October last year, it had mopped up $30 million in a Series D round of funding. 

The company had mobilised $59.1 million in a Series C round in July 2015 from Amazon and others.  In January 2014, it had raised $13 million in Series B funding led by Sequoia Capital with participation from Walden International.

Other companies that operate in the same segment as BankBazaar include online insurance selling platform Policybazaar and Mumbai-based fintech startup Rubique.