Private companies not chasing profitability are only 'postponing the trouble': Info Edge’s Sanjeev Bikhchandani

Sanjeev Bikhchandani, Founder & Vice Chairman,Info Edge India Ltd

Well-funded companies in the non-listed space that are still burning cash to grow, and not chasing profitability are only “postponing the trouble,” founder and executive vice chairman Sanjeev Bikhchandani said, speaking to analysts after the company reported its Q2Fy24 results on November 7.

“Everybody is conscious of the fact that money is less likely to be as easily available as it was earlier. That you will have to manage with what you have and maybe even raise some, but you can only raise some on the back of continued profits,” he added.

The Info Edge founder said that apart from players chasing profitability in the listed space, private investors have also made it clear to portfolio companies that funding will only follow profitability.

“Everybody has been told by the investors or they realised themselves that the party's over. You need to move to profit and if you can't, you're in trouble,” he said.

Also Read: Good governance begins in founders' heads: InfoEdge founder Sanjeev Bikhchandani reacts to Sequoia Capital blog

Info Edge also reiterated that it does not plan to trim stakes in its listed portfolio companies Zomato and PBFintech as it expects more growth.

“Our thinking is that if we don't need the money, and there's growth left in these two companies, we should hold on. This comes up every quarter in board meetings but as of now there are no plans,” said Bikhchandani.

Bikhchandani, in previous earnings calls, had shared that Info Edge, an early backer of foodtech major Zomato and insurance aggregator Policybazaar, is not in a hurry to book exits from the new-age stocks as it sees more potential for growth.

Also Read: It’s good time to invest in startups, says Sanjeev Bikhchandani of Info Edge

During the call, Bikchandani told analysts that the company is currently evaluating investments in the Deeptech and AI domain from a fund focused on it.

However, it said most of the companies it is evaluating regardless of the fund now “have a flavour of AI”.“There's a bit of AI going on everywhere, some will succeed, some will not,” he added.