Redcliffe Labs crosses Rs 350 Cr revenue in FY24, narrows losses significantly

Online diagnostic platform Redcliffe, backed by Leapfrog Investments, reported modest growth during the fiscal year ending March 2024, achieving a 28% reduction in losses, largely attributed to a significant cut in advertising and material costs.

Redcliffe’s revenue from operations grew by 11% to Rs 348.38 crore in FY24 from Rs 313.86 crore in FY23, as per its consolidated financial statements sourced from the Registrar of Companies (RoC).

Redcliffe Labs operates a network of laboratories specializing in pathological testing across various branches of biochemistry and radiology. Around 98% of its operating revenue came from these services, contributing Rs 341.02 crore in FY24. The sale of products and other operating income accounted for Rs 2.16 crore and Rs 5.20 crore, respectively, during the last fiscal year.

The company’s total income crossed Rs 353 crore in FY24 with other non-operating income worth Rs 5.3 crore including interest income and excess provisions written back.

The Noida-based company’s advertising costs fell by 45% to Rs 65.38 crore, and material costs, which declined by 15% to Rs 106.31 crore in FY24. However, there was a notable increase in laboratory test charges and depreciation costs which grew by 62.2% and 3X respectively. Overall, the company successfully controlled its total expenses, which dropped 14% to Rs 556.16 crore in FY24 from Rs 647.30 crore in FY23.

In the end, the company managed to decrease its losses by 28% to Rs 250 crore in FY24 from Rs 345 crore in FY23. Its ROCE and EBITDA margin stood at -544.68% and -57.55%, respectively. On a unit basis, Redcliffe Labs spent Rs 1.6 to earn a rupee in FY24.

Redcliffe recorded cash and bank balances of Rs 15.87 crore and had current assets worth Rs 89.64 crore as of FY24.

According to TheKredible, Redcliffe Labs has amassed total funding of $113 million to date, including investments from LeapFrog. The company recently secured $42 million in a Series C funding round and acquired Bengaluru-based Celara Diagnostics for approximately $7 million. Entrackr exclusively reported the development.

Among venture-funded companies, Redcliffe competes with PharmEasy-owned Thyrocare, Healthians, and 1mg.  Tata 1mg’s revenue from operations increased to Rs 1,968 crore in FY24 from Rs 1,627 crore in FY23 while Healthians achieved EBITDA profitability with Rs 243 crore revenue in FY24. Thyrocare, which is a public company, reported 20% jump in revenue to Rs 177.4 crore in Q2 FY25 with a profit after tax of Rs 26.4 crore.

While founded in 2018, Redcliffe Labs saw real interest, and backing for its plans in the year after Covid struck, when diagnostic labs were considered as good as money printing machines by some investors. That has meant the usual spike in funding, followed by the struggle we are seeing in the past two years, as momentum has all but died out, and much like edtech, the legacy players including hospitals have fought back to reclaim their space. On a smaller base as compared to its peers, Redcliffe’s topline growth remains unimpressive, and the bottomline pressure will continue to hurt. While it has done its own share of acquisitions to buy its way out of stagnation, that has clearly not worked, to no one’s surprise. The whole category faces a challenge of growth today, even if the overall size is much much larger than pre-2020, and looks set to remain that way. The only issue is the scramble for share among many more players, including those who raised money at hefty post-covid valuations, making growth difficult. Despite many promises, no firm has stood out for a breakthrough offering like faster speed, lower costs or specialised accurate diagnosis, to stand out. Fy25 promises to be yet another year of attrition, and for Redcliffe, the best hope might yet remain a respectable acquisition by a larger player, than trying to cut its own pathway ahead.