From the blessing of Indian fintech unicorns, CRED took the top spot in marketing expenditure, followed by PhonePe and PB Fintech
Among fintech soonicorns, Navi racked up the highest marketing bill, followed by KreditBee and Rupeek
Nine fintech unicorns spent an amount equivalent to more than 50% of their revenue from operations on advertising and marketing
While some companies try to hide their advertising spending by burying it deep in their financial statements or not reporting it as a separate entry, advertising and promotion are often considered necessary parts of doing business.
Startups competing with major established players and, in some cases, trying to induce new habits in customers, for instance in the fintech sector, need to spend on advertising to attract and gain customers. It is difficult, if not impossible, to build a business without doing so.
India’s fintech ecosystem is fiercely competitive and is home to some of the world’s most valuable startups in their respective fields. As such, fintech startups spend exorbitant amounts of money on advertising and promotional activities to woo customers and drive business in a sector where monetisation opportunities seem to be limited and companies operate on thin margins.
According to Inc42’s data, the top 28 Indian fintech startups – 13 unicorns and 15 soonicorns – spent INR 5,495.16 Cr (around $671.96 Mn) in the financial year 2021-22 (FY22) on advertising, promotions and other marketing activities.
On average, the fintech startups reported advertising and promotional expenses of INR 196.26 Cr ($23.9 Mn) in FY22.
For more context, the selected 28 startups posted a collective revenue from operations of INR 19,908.92 Cr ($2.43 Bn) in FY22 and a collective loss of INR 13,017.50 Cr ($1.59 Bn). Only three of the 28 unicorns and soonicorns are profitable – Zerodha, Razorpay and Money View.
While there are 22 unicorns and 33 soonicorns in the fintech sector, only 16 unicorns and 23 soonicorns have filed their financial statements for FY22 so far. Of them, many did not have a separate entry for marketing spending clearly in their statements, taking them out of this analysis.
The analysis excludes 27 fintech startups since they have either not reported their financials (16) or have not reported their marketing spending (
Fintech Unicorns’ Marketing Expenses In FY22
Kunal Shah’s CRED was the biggest spender on advertising and other promotional activities in FY22, racking up a bill of INR 975 Cr. The payments major’s FY22 ad spend jumped three times YoY from INR 324 Cr in FY21 on the back of its multiple IPL endorsements and sponsorship deals.
The invite-only payments unicorn was followed by payments decacorn PhonePe at INR 866.20 Cr and listed insurtech giant PB Fintech, the parent company of PolicyBazaar and PaisaBazaar at INR 864.45 Cr, against FY21 ad expenses of INR 534.9 Cr and INR 367.84 Cr, respectively.
