Online food ordering startup Zomato reported a loss of $294 million (about Rs 2,035 crore) for the year ended March, even as revenues jumped three-fold to $206 million.
The company had posted revenue of $68 million in the previous fiscal year.
In its annual report for FY19, Zomato said the loss was mostly on account of the food delivery business in India. The loss for FY18 was not disclosed.
The company said total cost increased to $500 million for FY19 as against $80 million in FY18. All the marketing investment the company made in FY19 will bear fruit in FY20 and beyond when it realises the lifetime value of the users that it has acquired, Zomato said.
The company will continue to invest in growing the market at the same pace as long as there is long term value to create, it added.
The company has stopped considering advertising revenue as a standalone P&L (profit and loss) last year, and now it thinks of its business as a combination of three key large pillars — Delivery, Dining Out, and Sustainability, the report said.