WayCool is one of the companies under the radar that has scaled up well. While Ninjacart dominates the narrative in the fresh produce supply chain space, WayCool emerged as the largest revenue making entity in FY19 with a topline of Rs 193.6 crore.
And, the Lightbox-backed firm is likely to be ahead in terms of revenue among its peers in FY20 as well. WayCool’s revenue from operations has scaled up 41% to Rs 273.2 crore in FY20 from Rs 193.6 crore as the company onboarded more clients on its agri-products supply chain platform.
The increase in supplies is evident from the surge in the purchase of stock materials by the Chennai-based company. Such costs grew by 41.6% from Rs 191 crore in FY19 to Rs 270.4 crore in FY20. WayCool claims to have a network of 40,000 farmers across India
The purchase of stock in trade is the single biggest cost factor for WayCool, accounting for 72.1% of the total expenditure incurred by the company. Employee benefit expenses also shot up, growing 2.2x to Rs 34.1 crore in FY20 as compared to Rs 15.3 crore spent on the same during FY19.
WayCool claims to handle 350+ tonnes of food products per day, across 8,000 clients and expenditure on the packaging and related materials also account for substantial share for the total expenses. These costs on material consumed and secondary packaging have increased by 84% from Rs 10.76 crore in FY19 from nearly Rs 20 crore.
Another Rs 10.5 crore was spent on warehouse facility management and other related expenses while costs on advertisement and
To bolster its operations, WayCool also raised $37.5 million in equity and debt funding led by LightBox Ventures in FY20. Entrackr had exclusively reported the company’s financing that also saw the participation of Dutch development bank FMO and LGT Lightstone Aspada.
The financial performance of WayCool in FY20 appears to be sound. However, it requires controlling expenses to bring more stability in the business in the coming years. If we compare the revenues of the companies in the supply chain space, WayCool is undoubtedly an underdog that has not been talked about much.
Experts tracking the supply chain space point out that WayCool’s business isn’t very tech-oriented. According to them, the platform acts as a sourcing platform for restaurants and large retail stores in south India with limited technological interference in the process.
Unlike WayCool, Ninjacart positions itself as a tech-enabled sourcing platform for retailers that predicts demand and supply patterns. Importantly, WayCool supplies fresh farm produce as well as grains to restaurants and retail stores while Ninjacart only deals in fresh farm produce.
It’s worth noting that restaurants comprise a sizable chunk of business for WayCool and according to a report by foodtech major Zomato, 40% of restaurants may shut down forever due to the pandemic. The adverse effect of the pandemic on restaurants may impact WayCool’s financial projections negatively in FY21.
