The Bengaluru-based financial technology company CRED has revealed a significant increase in losses for the fiscal year 2021-2022, amounting to INR 1,279 crore. This represents a 2.4 times increase from the previous fiscal year’s loss of INR 524 crore. The increase in losses can be attributed to expenditures on acquisitions and marketing efforts.
The revenue generated from operations increased by a factor of 4.4, rising from INR 88.6 Cr in the previous fiscal year to INR 393.5 Cr. The total income for the reviewed period was recorded at INR 422 Cr, a significant growth of 4.4 times compared to the same period in the previous year.
CRED, founded in 2018 by Kunal Shah, has established itself as one of the quickest startups to attain unicorn status in India. Initially launched as a platform for credit card bill payments, the company has expanded its offerings to include utility bill payments through CRED Pay, peer-to-peer lending through CRED Mint, CRED Store, CRED Cash for loans, and a Scan-and-Pay feature for Unified Payments Interface (UPI) transactions.
CRED, a company that has attracted support from major investors such as Sequoia Capital India, Tiger Global, DST Global, GIC Singapore, and Alpha Wave Capital, has raised substantial funds to date, with a total of over $800 million, including its most recent Series F funding round in June 2022. The company boasts of having 11.2 million active users.
The number of CRED members increased by 50% to 11.2 million in the fiscal year 2022, up from 7.5 million in the fiscal year 2021. The company’s total revenue has also seen a significant increase, growing by 4.4 times to INR 422 crore from INR 95 crore in the fiscal year 2021.
CRED aims to reach the top 30-40 million households in India that have a strong credit history. To achieve this goal, the company invested approximately INR 975 crore in marketing and business promotion initiatives, including advertisements during the Indian Premier League. Additionally, CRED made two acquisitions, including the alcohol delivery app HipBar for an undisclosed amount and the corporate expense management startup Happay for INR 1,486 crore. In the fiscal year 2022, CRED also participated in the Series A funding round of a fintech platform called Yubi.
According to the company, its total revenue has experienced a 24-fold increase since the fiscal year 2020, largely due to the introduction of multiple product lines in the fiscal year 2022. The focus of the company is to expand the usage of existing products and launch new offerings to support its members in managing their finances, such as saving, spending, and growing their money, as stated in a press release.
Shah stated that more than 90% of members use the CRED app to redeem at least one reward each month, indicating a high level of engagement among users.
