During the first half of the financial year 2023-24 (FY24), Meesho, a prominent player in the e-commerce sector, stood out as the most successful investment in Prosus’ India portfolio. According to Prosus’ semi-annual financial report, Meesho delivered an impressive internal rate of return (IRR) of 32% for the investor.
In the investor’s global startup portfolio, the e-commerce giant took the third spot in terms of performance, trailing only behind Remitly and iFood.
Subsequently, ElasticRun, a domestic B2B ecommerce solutions provider, secured an impressive internal rate of return (IRR) of 31% for the Amsterdam-based investor. Despite nearly doubling its loss to INR 618.82 Cr in FY23, ElasticRun emerged as the second-best performer in Prosus’ Indian portfolio.
Fintech giant PayU India was also among the top performers in the investor’s India portfolio, registering returns exceeding 30%. The investor emphasized in its presentation that PayU showcased significant enhancements in profitability, exhibiting strong growth across both the consolidated payments and fintech verticals.
In the first half of the financial year 2023-24 (H1 FY24), PayU India witnessed a year-on-year (YoY) revenue surge of 32%, reaching $497 million compared to $412 million in H1 FY23. Additionally, the consolidated trading losses showed a notable improvement, decreasing by 72.5% YoY to $22 million during the six-month period, in contrast to $80 million in H1 FY23.
Meanwhile, the educational technology platform Eruditus achieved an internal rate of return (IRR) of 22%, while the food technology decacorn Swiggy recorded an IRR of 7% in the first half of the financial year 2023-24 (H1 FY24).
As of September 2023, Prosus maintained a 32.7% ownership stake in Swiggy. The impressive returns of the food technology giant can be attributed to substantial growth in Gross Merchandise Value (GMV) and a reduction in trading losses. According to the financial statements, GMV experienced a significant 28% year-on-year surge in the first half of the financial year 2023-24 (H1 FY24), while trading losses decreased to $208 million from $321 million in H1 FY23.
“Swiggy’s core food-delivery business grew 17% and delivered GMV of $1.43 Bn in the first six months of the year. This was led by a rise in transacting users that drove double-digit order growth and inflation in AOV. Core food-delivery EBITDA losses in H1 FY24 shrunk 89%, led by improvements in contribution margin and operating leverage…,” added Prosus.
Read More: Swiggy’s food delivery sales soar 17%, hits $1.43 Billion GMV in first half of FY24: Prosus
In the same timeframe, the prominent e-pharmacy player PharmEasy emerged as the most significant underperformer in Prosus’ Indian portfolio, concluding with an internal rate of return (IRR) of -41% in the first half of the financial year 2023-24 (H1 FY24).
Struggling edtech decacorn BYJU’S emerged as another significant underperformer for Prosus, posting an internal rate of return (IRR) of -24% in the first half of the financial year 2023-24 (H1 FY24). The Dutch investor also marked down the valuation of the edtech giant in its records to under $3 billion, reflecting an 85% decline from the previous valuation of $22 billion during its last funding round.
Prosus’ varied results can be attributed largely to the enhanced market sentiment and the renewed emphasis of startups on profitability and sustainability. In total, the investment giant reported an operating loss of $415 million in the first half of the financial year 2023-24 (H1 FY24), compared to $329 million in H1 FY23. A substantial portion of these losses stemmed from the acknowledgment of impairment loss related to investments in the edtech sector.
