Slice revenue nearly triples from fees, commissions, and interest; losses up 60%

Garagepreneurs Internet Private Limited, the parent company of fintech unicorn Slice, nearly tripled its revenues in the fiscal year 2023 on the back of rising sale of services. Its revenues from operations grew to Rs 846.74 crore from Rs 283 crore earned in the preceding fiscal year.

In FY23, the company more than doubled its income from fees and commissions, reaching Rs 374.93 crore, up from Rs 149 crore in the previous fiscal year. Additionally, interest income on loans surged more than 3.5X, reaching Rs 471.81 crore in the financial year ended March 2023 compared with Rs 134.11 crore recorded in FY22.

However, the rise in revenues was also followed by higher expenses, which more than doubled to Rs 1,272.56 crore in FY23 from Rs 542.49 crore in the year-ago period.

Employee benefit costs nearly tripled, surging to Rs 286.94 crore in fiscal year 2023—up from Rs 98.93 crore incurred in the previous fiscal year. Similarly, finance costs—including interest on borrowing from banks, non-convertible debentures, lease liabilities etc—also shot up sharply by 159%, reaching Rs 169 crore in the reported fiscal year.

Slice allocated Rs 262.76 crore towards promoting and advertising its services in FY23, reflecting a 25% increase from Rs 209.15 crore spent in the previous fiscal year. Additionally, the fintech witnessed a substantial 4.1X surge in subscription membership fees, reaching Rs 83.18 crore in the reported fiscal year, compared with Rs 20.24 crore incurred in the preceding fiscal year.

Despite the booming revenue growth, the company faced a 60% increase in losses, which amounted to Rs 405.78 crore in fiscal year 2023—up from Rs 253.67 crore incurred in FY22.

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Founded in 2016 by Rajan Bajaj, Slice offers financial services and online platforms that facilitate credit facilities, prepaid cards, electronic vouchers, and software products, streamlining business transactions across various industries.

Earlier in October, the Bengaluru-based fintech received approval from the Reserve Bank of India to merge with North East Small Finance Bank, in which it previously held a 5% stake. The fintech had been looking to pin a turnaround in its business after an RBI notification that sought to bar non-bank PPIs (prepaid payment instruments) from extending credit lines affected its core operations.

Recently, in November last year, it raised around $9 million from Stride Ventures in a debt funding round, allotting 7,500 non-convertible debentures at an issue price of Rs 1 lakh per share.

In June 2022, Slice raised $50 million in a Series C round from Tiger Global Management, Moore Strategic Ventures, Insight Partners, and GMO VenturePartners. It has also raised funds from Gunosy Capital, Blume Ventures and Axis Bank.