FINTECH startup Nium’s 2022 revenue surged over 266 per cent to S$117 million from S$43.9 million in 2021, according to filings with the Accounting and Corporate Regulatory Authority of Singapore.

Its losses rose 28.1 per cent in 2022 to S$68.8 million from S$53.7 million, driven by a 93.2 per cent jump in total expenses in 2022 to S$192.4 million from S$99.6 million in 2021.

Almost all categories of expenses rose, save for consultant and card-related expenses. The biggest increase in expenses was in employee compensation, which rose some S$40 million to S$86.8 million in 2022, from S$46.3 million in 2021.

The main increase in employee expenses came from the salaries, bonuses, wages and other related cost segments; these rose some S$35 million to S$78.4 million in 2022 from S$43.4 million in 2021.

Nium made some C-suite hires in 2022 – a chief product officer, chief technology officer and general counsel. Expansion into new markets of Malaysia and Japan in 2022 also raised hiring expenses.

The next largest increase was in finance expenses, up some S$33 million to S$46.2 million in 2022, from S$12.9 million in 2021. This was mainly driven by the increase in processing charges from S$9.9 million in 2021 to S$38.6 million in 2022.

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Nium’s cash position stood at S$612.1 million at Dec 31, 2022. But the fintech’s cash generated from operating activities fell to S$112.5 million in 2022 from S$160 million in 2021.

The fintech, now valued at over US$2 billion, also issued over 30 million cards as of 2022, and launched a new payment product, Nium Airline Payments, for the travel industry. Nium also acquired the alternative payment platform SoCash in 2022.

Prajit Nanu, chief executive officer of the startup, said in a statement on Tuesday (Aug 1): “We are thrilled to see such success last year and are extremely bullish, not only about the scale we’ve already seen this year, but what we’ll see by the end of 2023.”

That losses are not growing in tandem with revenue signals efforts by Nium to break even as it readies itself for a listing by the end of the year. Nanu has previously said that the fintech is looking to list some time in 2025.