WayCool posts Rs 927 revenue in FY22, losses widen 2.4X

1
WayCool posts Rs 927 revenue in FY22, losses
widen 2.4X
Agritech ecosystem in India is yet to
churn a unicorn but the segment seems to
have gotten increased investor attention in
2022. According to Fintrackr, around 60
startups in the segment mopped up 772
million in funding during 2022, up from 540
million in 2021. DeHaat, Ninjacart, and
WayCool were the top three startups, both with
respect to funding and scale during the last
fiscal year (FY22). While DeHaat and
Flipkart-backed Ninjacart emerged as top two
companies in the segment with Rs 1,274
crore and Rs 967 crore revenue in FY22,
WayCool took the third position with Rs
927 crore in gross revenue during the last
fiscal.
2
WayCools revenue from operations spiked
2.4X to Rs 927 crore in FY22 from Rs 382
crore in FY21, according to its consolidated
annual financial statements with the Registrar of
Companies (RoC). WayCool claims to work with
more than 150,000 farmers and 100,000 clients who
source agricultural and dairy products from
the company. The sale of these products
contributed 99.8 of the collections and
increased 143.5 to Rs 924.7 crore in FY22 from
Rs 379.8 crore in FY21.
Franchise fees and technical support
services grew by only 4.5 and contributed
Rs 2.3 crore to the companys coffers.
Besides operating income, it also made Rs
3.74 crore in FY22 through financial
instruments. On the expense side, the cost of
procurement of materials accounted for 70.5 of
the overall cost and soared 2.4X to Rs 909 crore
in FY22. Employee benefit costs also shot up over
2.2X to Rs 147 crore in FY22 from Rs 65 crore in
FY21. WayCool ran aggressive promotional and
advertising campaigns in FY22 and recently
roped in actress Sneha Prasanna as its
ambassador. Its cost on marketing blew 4.5X
to Rs 27 crore in the fiscal year ending
March 2022.
3
WayCool incurred Rs 20 crore on logistics and
transportation which pushed its total cost 2.4X
to Rs 1,289 crore in FY22 from Rs 535 crore in
FY21. In the end, the company achieved a 2.4X
surge in its scale by losing money at the same
pace. WayCools losses widened 2.4X and stood at
Rs 360 crore in FY22. Its ROCE and EBITDA margins
were registered at -83.05 and -36.41. On a unit
level, WayCool spent Rs 1.39 to earn a rupee of
operating revenue in FY22.
While the strong topline performance of
agritech firms is no surprise, considering
the sheer size of the sector and the
possibilities for organising parts of it,
this is not a sector where firms can
justify losing money after a point. The
agriculture economy might offer lower
margins, but reversing loss making or
subsidised business with a shift to
viable margins can become very difficult
in this segment. Which is when even
tom-tomming your impact on the sector will be
of little help, as almost every agritech never
fails to remind stakeholders. Too much talk of
impact seeks to give the business a needless
hue, when what Indias agritechs need to show is
that the sector offers real and long term
returns. That is when they will do the greatest
good for the sector. While investments into
infrastructure like a cold chain are justified
and much needed, spending shooting up in areas
like marketing isnt.