BLS International Services crosses $1B market cap; turns unicorn

Tech-enable services provider BLS crossed the $1 billion market cap benchmark this week to become the latest unicorn in India.

BLS started in 2005 with just one contract for visa application processing for the Portuguese embassy in New Delhi. BLS has been a go-to services provider for governments and embassies globally in need of outsourcing visas, passports, consular, attestation, and citizen services.

The company works with multiple governments and embassies, including Brazil, Spain, Italy, Hungary, the US, Canada, Estonia, Lebanon, Portugal, Vietnam, Morocco, Belarus, France, UAE, etc.

The startup is closely working with the UAE Ministry of External Affairs in the international arena, providing customised solutions at the seven centres of the National Identification Card Programme and operating application centres for Identity Management for Afghan nationals in GCC nations.

It also issues digital IDs to e-residents granted by the Estonian Police and Border Guard Board (PBGB). BLS has also partnered with the National Identity Management Commission in Nigeria to enrol Nigerian citizens into the national identity database.

Speaking on the development, Shikhar Aggarwal, Joint Managing Director of BLS, said, “This new milestone that BLS has crossed is the latest feather in our cap. But we will not rest on our laurels and will keep working harder and more efficiently and introduce new innovations in our services. The sky is the limit for everyone at BLS.”

BLS' stock price has more than doubled in the past six months, shooting up 110% compared to the S&P BSE Sensex's 14% increase during the same period, the company confirms. 

The company said its revenue has increased by 70.6% YoY to Rs 630 crore in the first half of the financial year (H1FY22–23), and its consolidated profit after tax increased by 71% YoY to Rs 81.69 crore.

The EBITDA margin improved to 14.0% from 12.56% in the first half of FY22—a 144-basis point increase.