The valuation estimate of B2B e-commerce firm Elastic Run has been reduced to $800 million by HSBC. This is as per a report by the Economic Times.
The B2B e-commerce firm is backed by SoftBank and Prosus. As per the company statement, “ElasticRun Network helps eCommerce companies reach customers in far-flung rural areas through its crowdsourced logistics network.”
The extensive reach, as per the company, is facilitated by the ElasticRun technology platform, which supports a "no capex" and "variable cost" crowdsourced logistics network. Utilising its rural Kirana network, the ElasticRun platform will channel trade, finance, and data from India's $600 billion consumption market, as per the company's website. The company has clients such as Pidilite, Unilever, Dabur, Colgate, Britannia, Godrej, and Marico.
In 2022, ElasticRun raised $330 million at a valuation of $1.5 billion. The funding round was led by SoftBank Vision Fund 2 and Goldman Sachs Asset Management. Long-term investor Prosus Ventures also participated in the round.
In FY 2023, the losses of Elastic Run nearly doubled. The unicorn has had a 72.57 per cent YoY increase in net loss to Rs 618.82 Cr from a loss of Rs 358.59 Crore in FY22.
HSBC has also attributed no value to Prosus' roughly 10 per cent stake, worth approximately $500 million, in ed-tech platform Byju's. "We assign zero value to Byju’s stake amid multiple legal cases and a funding crunch," said HSBC as per the Economic Times. Amid a prolonged financial crisis and disputes with investors, the valuation of edtech platform Byju’s has reduced significantly. For example, recently, Byju’s investor Bloackstone staked the value of its investment in the edtech firm at zero.
Additionally, it has also lowered its valuation estimate for Meesho by 14 percent to $2.5 billion. Further, the valuation of agritech start-up Dehaat has been reduced by 11 per cent to $400 million.
