VerSe Innovation’s losses widens 3.2X YoY to Rs 2,563 Cr in FY22
- ByStartupStory | January 31, 2023
VerSe Innovation, the parent company of news aggregator platform DailyHunt and short video content platform Josh, lost Rs.2,563.33 Cr in fiscal year 2021-22 (FY22) due to a significant increase in its expenses. The unicorn’s loss increased 3.2X during the fiscal year under review, from Rs.807.95 Cr in FY21 to Rs. 807.95 Cr in FY22.
The unicorn’s total income increased 1.5X to Rs.1,150.97 Cr from Rs.771.83 Cr in FY21, according to filings with the Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA). In addition, revenue from operations increased 1.5X to Rs.964.7 Cr from Rs.666.2 Cr in FY21.
At Rs.2,693.42 Cr, “expenditure on production, transportation and other expenditure pertaining to exploration and production activities” accounted for the biggest portion of total expenses. The expenses under the head rose 2.1X during the year under review from Rs.1,281 Cr in FY21.
However, VerSe, which was last valued at $5 billion, saw its expenses increase 2.4X to Rs.3,714.30 Cr in FY21 from Rs.1,579.78 Cr.
VerSe’s employee benefit expenses increased 3.8X from Rs 191.55 in FY21 to Rs.731.15 Cr.
In terms of unit economics, DailyHunt and Josh’s parent company spent Rs 3.22 to earn Re 1 in FY22.
VerSe Innovation raised $805 million in the largest funding round of 2022 last year, bringing its valuation to $5 billion. At the time, cofounders Umang Bedi and Virendra Gupta told Inc42 that while DailyHunt is ‘nearly breaking even,’ the goal is to make VerSe an IPO-able company.
However, months after the fundraise, VerSe Innovation fired 150 employees, accounting for 5% of its total workforce at the time. VerSe Innovation also decided to take an 11% pay cut for employees earning more than Rs.10 lakh per year, according to sources at the time.
Gupta founded VerSe Innovation in 2007, and Bedi joined as a cofounder in 2018. It began as a B2B company serving telcos, primarily providing SMS alerts about jobs, real estate, matrimony, news, and education in India, Bangladesh, and Africa.
Later, in 2021, the unicorn launched Josh, which was intended to be focused on vernacular short video content and has around 150 million monthly active users. Josh is said to have begun earning money in April 2022.
VerSe Innovation recently completed its launch in the MENA region, with Dailyhunt now available in several Middle Eastern countries and in Hebrew, Farsi, and Arabic.
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