Info Edge, the largest shareholder of Bizcrum Infotech, Bijnis joint stock companydeleted its entire investment in the Indian startup, citing “principles of conservatism and prudence,” in the latest sharp market correction in the South Asian ecosystem rapidly growing is grappling with a weakening global economy.
The publicly listed Indian investor has invested approximately $9.3 million in the New Delhi-based startup, which has raised a total of more than $43 million to date and including Sequoia India, Matrix Partners India, Waterbridge and Westbridge among the backers.
The Series B startup, whose last funding round was revealed in September 2021, aims to be an “operating system for factories,” helping factories handle supply and also creating demand from buyers as well as other retailers.
Info Edge said it removed its investment in Bijnis in accordance with “principles of conservatism and prudence, and after careful consideration of factors including continued cash burn, limited cash flow relative to unspecified liabilities for Bijnis’ redemption obligations (including liquidation preference). company to investors under a shareholder agreement.”
“However, we will continue to assess the situation and work with other shareholders to rectify the situation,” it assured.
Rishabh Katiyar, Principal at Info Edge Ventures, said in a statement to TechCrunch that the debt write-off in Bijnis as a “technical debt write-off due to unspecified liabilities” was made possible “due to a repurchase obligation in the future.” existing shareholder agreement signed between the company and the investors.”
He added:
“This liability is incidental in nature and has been accounted for based on prudent accounting policies that the company followed in accordance with IndAS accounting standards. It is therefore not a reflection of the company’s financial performance, market opportunities, and value proposition. Furthermore, this liability will only materialize if the company is unable to provide an exit to the main investors through other exit mechanisms such as third-party selling, listing, among others. specified in the agreements at a specific date in the future, and all major shareholders collectively choose to exercise the right of redemption as an exit mechanism.”
The announcement comes after Info Edge disclosed on Friday a $33.4 million loss in 4B Network, another startup it recently wiped out. 4B Networks was founded by Rahul Yadav, the notorious founder of Housing.com and Info Edge own a 57% stake in the newer startup.
The write-off resulted in an overall loss of $8.4 million for Info Edge in the financial year ending March 2023, a stark difference from the $1.55 billion profit the company made. announced last year. Like India’s The Arc news and analysis website shownThis is Info Edge’s first net loss in six years.
