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Economic Times
07-05-2025
- Business
- Economic Times
Bira Maker's interest payouts delayed amid liquidity woes
B9 Beverages, the maker of Bira alcoholic beverages, has delayed interest payouts to some of its debt investors through fintech marketplace KredX, according to people aware of the matter. The New Delhi-based company's revenue slumped and losses shot up in FY24, the last year for which financial details are to regulatory filings, revenue fell 22% to Rs 638 crore from Rs 824 crore a year before. Its net loss widened to Rs 749 crore from Rs 445 crore. A retail investor who has debt exposure to Bira told ET that he's not received payments in March and April for investments made via KredX.B9 Beverages raised working capital debt through KredX using its unpaid invoices as companies raise debt in this form from banks but startups such as KredX allow retail investors to make such investments as well. Ankur Jain, founder of B9 Beverages, told ET the company has worked with KredX for over six years and has been meeting all obligations to platforms and lenders to the fullest. 'Any delays on specific limits are pre-aligned with KredX in accordance with the provisions of the agreements and we are not in default of any obligations,' he said. KredX did not respond to ET's queries. Liquidity troubles Over the past year, B9 Beverages has borrowed around Rs 60 crore through fintech firms such as Yubi and venture debt funds like Alteria Capital, according to the Registrar of Companies filings. It has also picked up venture debt from Trifecta Capital and Anicut Capital. Jain said there hadn't been any delay in repayments. 'There are liquidity issues that the company is facing… but the management has told lenders that it is in the process of raising funds that will help it manage debt repayment,' one of the investors told ET. Fundraising plan Jain, through his holding company Day1 Advisors Pvt Ltd, and B9 Beverages are also in discussions to close an Rs 800 crore financing round. Of this, Rs 500 crore will be raised by Day1 Advisors through structured debt, and this will be used to buy stakes from B9 Beverages' existing investors. Day1 Advisors had acquired 10% of B9 Beverages by buying stakes from existing investor Peak XV Partners (formerly Sequoia Capital India) in FY24 by raising structured debt from Axis Capital. According to a credit rating report by Icra, the terms of the transaction state that Day1 and its promoters have pledged B9 Beverages equity as security against the borrowing. As of March this year, Jain and his family and Japanese beverage firm Kirin held 20% each in B9 Beverages. Peak XV Partners held 14%, while Sofina had 6%. Growth path Founded in 2015, Bira has raised $457 million in equity funding over multiple funding rounds from large investors such as Peak XV Partners, Sofina, Sixth Sense Ventures, Kirin Holdings and others, according to Tracxn. Last year, B9 Beverages closed a $50 million funding round through a mix of equity and debt. Tiger Pacific Capital acquired a 4% stake in the company by investing $25 million and Kirin Holdings paid another $25 million via external commercial borrowings (ECBs). On April 21, The Times of India reported that the company had delayed salaries and vendor payments. ET reported in February that the company changed its name to B9 Beverages Ltd from B9 Beverages Pvt. Ltd. Compliance issues over this name change resulted in the firm having to write off inventory worth Rs 80 crore and halt sales for a few months. 'We had to re-register our products in each of the 27 states that we were operational in, with the new company name,' Jain said. 'This transition started in Q4 FY24 and spilled over to H1 FY25, with the beginning of the new excise licence year in most of our states, causing an average disruption of three-four months, especially in peak summer quarter.'Jain also cited policy changes in Andhra Pradesh and Delhi in the last few months that hit business in these geographies, which account for a substantial part of its revenue. But he said business had stabilised and the company grew 40% on-year in the last quarter of FY25.
Time of India
07-05-2025
- Business
- Time of India
Bira brews debt trouble?; Investors' Ather bonanza
Bira brews debt trouble?; Investors' Ather bonanza Want this newsletter delivered to your inbox? Also in the letter: Bira maker B9 Beverages delays interest payouts amid liquidity issues Driving the news: From the horse's mouth: Liquidity issues: It has raised around Rs 60 crore in debt from fintech platforms such as Yubi and venture debt funds, including Alteria Capital, Trifecta Capital, and Anicut Capital. Jain and B9 are also in talks to close a Rs 800 crore funding round. To date, the company has raised $457 million in funding from investors including Peak XV Partners and Sixth Sense Ventures. Financials: Regulatory filings show revenue declined 22% to Rs 638 crore from Rs 824 crore the previous year. Net loss widened to Rs 749 crore from Rs 445 crore. Ather Energy listing delivers strong gains for founders, investors despite muted debut Listing returns: Tarun Mehta: Rs 590 crore Rs 590 crore Swapnil Jain: Rs 590 crore Rs 590 crore GIC: Rs 1,226 crore Rs 1,226 crore Tiger Global: Rs 586 crore Rs 586 crore NIIF: Rs 538 crore Rs 538 crore IIT Madras: Rs 45.9 crore Early backers: Also Read: What's ahead: Zoom out: ETtech Done Deals The Good Bug raises Rs 100 crore: D2C activewear brand BlissClub raises Rs 33 crore: Kitchen robotics startup Posha raises $8 million: MeitY shortlists 7 firms in second round of AI Mission GPU tender What's the news: Other Top Stories By Our Reporters Paytm Q4: Revenue declines, user base shrinks | Swiggy transfers food brands The Bowl Company, Homely to Kouzina: Visa's Shailesh Paul set to take over as CEO of PayU-owned Wibmo: Global Picks We Are Reading Happy Wednesday! Alcoholic beverage maker B9 Beverages has run into trouble with some debt investors. This and more in today's ETtech Morning Dispatch.■ ETtech Done Deals■ GPU procurement: Round II■ Paytm Q4 revenue dipsB9 Beverages, the company behind Bira beer, has delayed interest payments to some debt investors via the fintech marketplace KredX, as it battles a cash crunch.A retail investor with exposure to Bira told ET that he has yet to receive interest payouts for March and April on his KredX companies typically raise debt from banks, fintech firms like KredX enable retail investors to participate in such Jain, founder of B9 Beverages, told us the company is not in default. 'Any delays on specific limits are pre-aligned with KredX under the provisions of the agreements, and we are not in default of any obligations,' he said. B9 has worked with KredX for over six New Delhi-based firm has faced liquidity pressure over the past dropped, and losses ballooned in FY24 Ather Energy promoters and major shareholders saw their investments more than double, even as the stock ended its debut day in the red Founders Tarun Mehta and Swapnil Jain, along with key investors, now hold a combined stake worth Rs 7,056 crore, or 2.22 times (2.2x) their pre-IPO cofounders Sachin Bansal and Binny Bansal were among Ather's earliest investors, each putting in around Rs 2.1 crore in 2014. Sachin later added Rs 400 crore, but exited before the IPO, selling his stake to Hero MotoCorp and Zerodha's Kamath brothers – a move that cost him up to 20% in unrealised gains. Binny held on, and his original Rs 3.1 crore investment has grown to Rs 92 crore. Mehta told us Ather is eyeing strong growth, backed by a capex-light retail model and a rising pool of value-conscious Rs 2,981-crore public issue ran from April 28 to 30 , after raising Rs 1,340 crore from anchor investors on April 26 . The book-built offer was subscribed 1.43 times (1.43x), with qualified institutional buyers (QIBs) stepping in on the final day.L-R, Keshav Biyani and Prabhu Karthikeyan, cofounders, The Good BugGut health startup The Good Bug has raised Rs 100 crore (about $12 million) in a Series B funding round led by Susquehanna Asia Venture Capital, the VC arm of Susquehanna International Group. Founded in 2022 by Keshav Biyani and Prabhu Karthikeyan, the Mumbai-based company develops probiotic and gut-focused health products targeting digestion, immunity, and metabolic a direct-to-consumer (D2C) activewear brand focused on women, has raised Rs 33 crore in a round led by existing investor Elevation Capital. The funds will be used for meeting working capital requirements, capital expenditures, and other general corporate robotics startup Posha has raised $8 million in a Series A equity funding round led by venture capital firm Accel. Its cofounder Raghav Gupta, said the fresh capital will be used to expand Posha's recipe database, enhance its artificial intelligence (AI) capabilities, and improve the user interface and product IndiaAI Mission has shortlisted seven companies – including partners of major cloud providers like Amazon Web Services (AWS), Oracle, and Google Cloud – for the technical evaluation stage of its second Graphics Processing Units (GPUs) procurement Mission has invited the firms, including Netmagic IT Services, Cyfuture India, Sify Digital Services, Vensysco Technologies, Locuz Enterprise Solutions, Yotta Data Services, and Ishan Infotech, to present their technical proposals on May 14. The IT ministry aims to procure 15,000 GPUs in this remain a globally sought-after resource, with countries like the US tightening export controls on advanced AI chips to protect their technological edge and national Shekhar Sharma, founder, PaytmOne 97 Communications, which operates digital payments platform Paytm, reported a year-on-year decrease in operating revenue for the March quarter of FY25, while marginally narrowing its net has entered into a strategic agreement with food service platform Kouzina to exclusively licence its digital-first food brands, according to an exchange filing on the online payments security platform owned by PayU, is set to appoint Shailesh Paul , a senior executive from Visa, as its new CEO.■ Microsoft's new Surface laptops are cheaper. You probably don't need them ( Wired ■ The AI arms race in hiring is a huge mess for everyone ( FT ■ Deliveroo deal shows UK still can't hang on to big firms ( BBC
