BackOla-backed VOGO’s FY19 losses rise by 12-fold to Rs39 crore
The startup's expenses rise by 8 times to Rs46.3 crore in FY19VOGO is expected to spend the money raised firm Ola in Dec 2018 towards deploying around 100,000 rental vehicles on its fleet
PremiumBENGALURU : Ola-backed two-wheeler rental platform VOGO Automotive Pvt Ltd reported a 12 times rise in losses to ₹39.2 crore during the financial year ended March 2019 (FY19), as the startup's expenses shot up by 8 times to ₹46.3 crore, according to the company’s financials sourced from business information platform Paper.vc.
In FY18, VOGO’s losses stood at ₹3.3 crore, while expenses were at ₹5.5 crore. VOGO’s operational revenue stood at ₹5.7 crore in FY19, up from ₹2 crore a year ago.
A large portion of the company’s expenses, amounting up to ₹32.7 crore, were reported under the ‘other expenses’ category, which included costs such as rental, insurance, legal professional charges, miscellaneous expenses and others.
In the other expenses category, VOGO spent the most on miscellaneous expenses which stood at ₹22.6 crore in FY19. It also spent around ₹4 crore in rentals, and ₹3.3 crore in legal professional charges.
Apart from this, the company’s valuation report prepared by its auditors in April 2019 has pegged VOGO’s enterprise value at ₹298 crore ($41.4 million). The auditor’s report also estimates the company to return profits in FY22 to the tune of ₹65.6 crore.
“We invested significantly last year in technology and our team to build readiness for large scaleup this year. This financial year, our revenue will be at least 15X higher with a cost increase of less than 4X,"s said Anand Ayyadurai, chief executive of VOGO in a response to Mint's queries.
The Bengaluru-based startup which raised $100 million from cab hailing firm Ola in December 2018 is expected to spend the money towards deploying around 100,000 rental vehicles on its fleet in cities such as Bengaluru, Hyderabad, and Chennai. Vogo had more than 12,000 vehicles across five cities as of June 2019, up from around 5,000 as of April.
Founded in 2016 by Ayyadurai, Padmanabhan Balakrishnan and Sanchit Mittal, Vogo allows users to locate bikes on its app and use them for travel within the city. The scooters are fitted with patented technology that allows users to directly access and start the scooter via its app. It also operates around 500 scooter stations across five cities and claims to get around 50,000 rides as of September 2019.
Mint reported in June that VOGO was in talks to raise $40-$50 million in equity funding to fuel its growth plans, as competition heats up in the micro mobility space. Filings with the RoC sourced from Paper.vc also show that the company has already secured $2.5 million in its ongoing Series C round from investors such as Matrix Partners, Stellaris Ventures, and Kalaari Partners.
VOGO’s closest competitor Bounce last raised around $72 million in its series C funding round led by global technology fund B Capital Group and Falcon Edge Capital in June, valuing the startup at over $220 million. Bengaluru-based Yulu, which offers electric cycles and bicycles for hire, is also in advanced talks to raise a Series A round of ₹100 crore ($15 million) from Investors such as Shunwei Capital, Xiaomi, and ex-InMobi chief business officer Atul Satija, Mint reported in July.
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