Licious sees flat revenues as cash burn continues in FY24: Report

Direct-to-consumer (D2C) foodtech platform Licious is reportedly going through flat revenues in FY24 as cash burn continues, despite claims by its founders Abhay Hanjura and Vivek Gupta that the meat delivery startup is on a profitable path.

According to a Moneycontrol report on Wednesday, Licious ended FY23 with a revenue of Rs 700 crore, less than half of Rs 1,500 crore that it initially projected.

"Five months into FY24, Licious looks to be treading a similar path," the report added.

Licious' monthly revenues remain in the Rs 62-68 crore range in the ongoing financial year to date.

While Licious sounds optimistic about September, it still expects revenues to decline in the coming months, said the report, citing internal documents.

The business is likely to enter a more stable phase only after Diwali in November.

In the April-June quarter, the revenue reached Rs 189.9 crore and Licious is likely to end the current quarter with a total revenue of about Rs 180-200 crore.

This shows that FY24 is going to be yet another year of “flat revenue growth” for the company.

The company did not comment on the report.

In March last year, the foodtech platform raised $150 million, after it became the first D2C unicorn in the country.

The funding round was led by Singapore-based Amansa Capital, along with Kotak PE & Axis Growth Avenues AIF-I. Existing investors also participated in the round.

The Indian meat market -- fairly nascent with a large growth headroom -- is expected to reach $80-85 billion by 2024 and is up for disruption by branded players especially in the online space, according to Bengaluru-based market research firm RedSeer.

In July 2021, Licious raised $192 million in their Series F funding Round, led by Temasek & Multiples.

In October, the company achieved a billion dollars valuation post receipt of funding worth $52 million led by IIFL AMC's Late Stage Tech Fun & Avendus FLF (Future Leaders Fund).