Social commerce platform Meesho’s losses balloon 3X in FY20

Fashnear Technologies-operated social commerce platform Meesho’s losses widened 3X in the fiscal year ended March 2020. The startup’s revenue increased 283% in the same period.

The Facebook and Naspers-backed startup’s net losses after tax for FY20 stood at Rs 315.41 crore, up from Rs 100.4 crore in FY19, according to data from VCCEdge

Revenue from operations for the fiscal were reported Rs 306.9 crore, a significant jump from Rs 80.03 crore in FY19. Net revenue for the year stood at Rs 341.61 crore.

The startup’s expenses grew to Rs 657.03 crore, a 255% increase from Rs 185.3 crore in the previous year.

Advertising promotional expenses alone rose 332.48%. In FY20, this spend stood at Rs 217.4 crore, a major surge from Rs 50.27 crore in FY19.

“Due to Covid-19, the company has taken necessary steps to further strengthen its competitive advantages, explore more opportunities, and enhance its presence and thus securing future growth momentum by aggressively working towards setting up customer base and catering to them,” the company said in the filing.

In April last year, the startup had reportedly laid off over 200 employees from its 700-800 workforce. About 40% of the key account managers, business relationship managers and another 30-40% of the business development team were asked to leave. This happened a week after CEO Vidit Aatrey told employees that there won’t be any job cuts in the company.

Founded in 2015 by IIT Delhi graduates Aatrey and Sanjay Barnwal, Meesho lets re-sellers sell products listed on Meesho’s platform across various social media channels and personal networks at zero investment, but earning a set margin on a shared basis.