Softbank-backed Meesho on Friday said it became the first e-commerce unicorn to post consolidated profit after tax in the second quarter ended September 2023. 

The company did not disclose the amount of profit it earned in the July-September period. During the first-half period of the current financial year, the company reported a narrowing of losses to Rs 141 crore and an increase in revenue by 37 per cent on a year-over-year basis to Rs 3,521 crore. 

"Meesho recorded its first-ever full-quarter profitability in the second quarter of financial year 2024 and continues to remain so. The positive momentum in the business continued post this period's end and into the festive season as well where we witnessed continued growth across categories. This is an impressive feat as Meesho became the first horizontal e-commerce company to turn profitable in India," a Meesho spokesperson said. 

The company said it had posted its first-ever profit in July. 

"Consolidated revenue from operations was Rs 3,521 crore, up 37 per cent YoY. Losses for the period were Rs 141 crore, lower by 90 per cent YoY in the first half of FY 2024," the company said in a statement. 

Meesho had posted a 77 per cent increase in revenue from operations at Rs 5,735 crore in the previous financial year. 

The company attributed the growth in business to an increase in shopping app downloads in India in 2022 and 2023, a hike in the transaction frequency of existing customers, a widening of the category mix, and a focus on improving monetisation through various value-added seller services. 

According to data.ai, Meesho recorded 14.5 crore app downloads in 2023 in India. 

"We also crossed the momentous milestone of 500 million downloads in H1, FY 2023-24. Our growth in downloads is now largely coming from organic word-of-mouth-led momentum benefitting from the wide selection and low prices on the platform," the company said.