Heads Up For Tails, a fourteen-year-old startup, surprised many startup enthusiasts and the media when it raised $37 million in its first institutional round in August 2021. The large fund infusion also accelerated its growth in FY22, which surpassed Rs 125 crore.
According to financial statements filed by its holding company, Sara Global Pte Ltd, in Singapore, Heads Up For Tails’ operating revenue increased by 85.9% to SGD 22.4 million (Rs 125.5 crore) in FY22 from SGD 22.4 million (Rs 67.5 crore) in FY21.
The Sequoia Capital-backed company offers more than 5,000 pet products and a presence in over 12 cities with over 65 stores and 35 pet spas. Revenue from the sale of pet products is the major source (over 95%) of income for the company.
On the expenditure side, the cost of material consumed accounted for 60% of the overall expenses which soared 129.8% to SGD 15.06 million (Rs 84.3 crore) in FY22 from SGD 6.55 million (Rs 36.68 crore) in the previous fiscal year (FY21).
With a workforce of over 450 people in FY22, the employee benefit expenses of the company surged 57.4% to SGD 3.7 million (Rs 20.7 crore) from SGD 2.35 million (Rs 13.16 crore) in FY21
The company added another SGD 1.52 million or Rs 8.5 crore on advertising which pushed its total expenditure by 92.2% to SGD 24.98 million (Rs 139.9 crore) in the fiscal year ending March 2022.
While the company’s scale grew at a decent pace, its losses shot up 3.3X to SGD 2.26 million (Rs 12.6 crore) in FY22.
Heads Up For Tails closed its first venture capital round co-led by Verlinvest, Sequoia Capital. As per Fintrackr’s analysis, Sequoia and Vernalist are the major stakeholders in the company with 18.24% stake each W&C Pet Tech commands a 12.42% stake. The shareholding pattern of the company can be seen here:
The Rashi Sanon Narang-led company is reportedly in talks to raise another $10-15 million round from the existing investors. Initially, the startup was in talks to raise a $50 million round from private equity firm KKR, however, the deal failed, as per a Mint report.
Source: Fintrackr
