Amazon-backed Capital Float’s FY18 loss expands on higher expenses

Digital lending platform Capital Float reported a wider loss for the year through March, as higher expenses offset a rise in revenue.

Net loss expanded to Rs 92.1 crore for 2017-18 from Rs 63.5 crore the year before, according to the filings made to the Registrar of Companies (RoC). Net sales more than doubled to Rs 122.4 crore from Rs 46 crore.

Total expenditure almost doubled to Rs 227.2 crore from Rs 117.3 crore. This was led by finance costs, which almost tripled to Rs 52 crore from Rs 18.9 crore.

The startup is run by Capfloat Financial Services Pvt. Ltd, formerly known as Zen Lefin Pvt. Ltd. Its nearest competitor is Lendingkart Technologies Pvt. Ltd. While Lendingkart’s consolidated net sales jumped to Rs 86.53 crore for 2017-18 from Rs 30.36 crore, it posted a smaller loss than Capital Float.

Email queries sent to Capital Float and Lendingkart did not elicit a response till the time of publishing this report.

In April this year, Capital Float had raised $22 million (Rs 144 crore then) in funding from e-commerce major Amazon.

The company has so far raised total equity funding of nearly $110 million from Amazon and other investors including Ribbit Capital, SAIF Partners, Sequoia India, Creation Investments and Aspada. In addition, the company has raised debt of $130 million (Rs 840 crore) from banks and non-bank lenders.

Founded by Sashank Rishyasringa and Gaurav Hinduja in 2013, Capital Float operates as a hybrid marketplace where banks and non-banking finance companies co-lend along with the company to borrowers.

Lendingkart is also heavily funded. In February, Lendingkart had raised Rs 565 crore ($87 million then) in a Series C round of funding led by Singapore’s Fullerton Financial Holdings Pte Ltd. Existing investors Sistema Asia Fund, Bertelsmann India Investment, Mayfield India, India Quotient, and Saama Capital had also participated in the round.