Astrotalk's $1 billion value came from a buyback, and its profit figures clash

One Indian company's profit for the year ended March 2025 appears in print as ₹33 crore and as ₹250 crore. Inc42 reported the larger figure, along with operating revenue that nearly doubled to ₹1,176 crore. Inc42's own company-financials page lists FY25 profit after tax of about ₹32.8 crore.

In August 2026 the same company was valued at $1 billion, and no outside investor paid that price. Its own employees sold shares back to it, and the company said the cash came from its profits.

The company is Astrotalk, an app where users pay to chat or call an astrologer. The $1 billion figure is a company-priced transaction, and the sources disagree on the profit behind it.

A unicorn with no new buyer

According to OfficeChai, Astrotalk entered the unicorn club through an employee stock buyback at a $1 billion valuation. The company confirmed that more than 100 employees sold shares. It became India's 133rd unicorn and the first from astrology and spiritual tech.

Indian Startup News reports the company said the buyback was funded from profits. Astrotalk did not disclose the size of the buyback or how many shares were repurchased.

The previous outside price was much lower. Entrepreneur India describes the new figure as a threefold jump from $300 million in June 2024, and Inc42 puts total funding raised from investors at $34 million.

How the meter runs

The model is simple. Inc42 describes Astrotalk as a marketplace that carries no inventory and takes a cut of each consultation. Inc42 says the company claims to have served over 4 crore users to date.

In its FY25 results release, the company credited the revenue growth to higher paid consultations and repeat usage, especially in Tier-I cities, according to Outlook Business.

Two profit numbers for one year

Revenue is not in dispute. Inc42 reports operating revenue rose from ₹651 crore in FY24 to ₹1,176 crore in FY25. The company also says its current annual run rate has crossed ₹2,500 crore. That run rate is a company claim, and no filing backs it yet.

Profit is where sources split. Inc42 reported net profit jumped 2.5 times to ₹250 crore from ₹100 crore. Inc42's company-financials page, by contrast, lists FY25 profit after tax of about ₹32.8 crore, and that page is itself inconsistent in places. The reason for the gap was not confirmed.

The company's own explanation is in a release reported by Outlook Business. It puts total expenses at ₹1,129 crore, up from ₹542 crore in FY24. FY25 included a one-time employee-related expense of about ₹120 crore, mostly non-cash, and a non-cash mark-to-market adjustment of about ₹80 crore on CCPS instruments after the move to Ind-AS. Adjusted for both, the company puts profit before tax at ₹285 crore against ₹127 crore in FY24.

So three figures circulate for one year: ₹285 crore adjusted profit before tax, ₹250 crore net profit as reported by Inc42, and about ₹33 crore profit after tax on Inc42's financials page. They measure different things, and an investor will want them reconciled line by line.

The store and the untested price

Astrotalk is widening beyond calls. Inc42 reports that its store, launched in November 2024, generated more than ₹140 crore in operating revenue in its first 12 months, according to the startup, and has since reached a ₹300 crore annual run rate. That is about 12 percent of the claimed ₹2,500 crore total. Inc42 also says the company plans offline retail in Delhi NCR and an international ecommerce launch starting with the US.

On the valuation, Inc42 describes the figure as one the company arrived at internally. Co-founder Puneet Gupta told Inc42 that Astrotalk does not need to raise capital before an IPO, and would consider a round only if reputed investors wanted to join ahead of the roadshow. Inc42 reported in 2025 that the startup was in talks to raise $50 million at a unicorn valuation, and no such round has been announced since.

A buyback priced by the company and sold to its own staff is a real transaction. It is still not the same as an outside investor paying that price.

What founders can take from it

A profit-funded buyback puts real cash in employees' hands and adds no new shareholder to the cap table. It also sets a number that the next investor will argue with. Treat it as an opening position and be ready to defend it with clean accounts.

Pick one profit definition and use it everywhere. Astrotalk's ₹285 crore, ₹250 crore and ₹33 crore all circulate for the same year. A company heading to a listing should not leave that to journalists to untangle.

Disclose what you can about the deal itself. Astrotalk confirmed the valuation but not the buyback size, so the market cannot judge how much of the company actually changed hands at $1 billion.

Physical goods also work differently from a per-minute service. They bring delivery, returns and refunds that a call does not. Founders adding a second line to a profitable first one should price in that support load before celebrating the run rate.

Sources

• Astrology App Astrotalk Becomes India's Latest Unicorn, Now Valued At $1 Billion (OfficeChai)
• Astrology startup Astrotalk achieves unicorn status at $1 billion valuation via ESOP buyback (Indian Startup News)
• Exclusive: Astrotalk Joins Unicorn Club After ESOP Buyback At $1 Bn Valuation (Inc42)
• Can Astrotalk Chart A Future Beyond Astrology? (Inc42)
• Astrotalk financials (Inc42)
• Astrotalk Becomes Unicorn at USD 1 Bn Valuation Through ESOP Buyback (Entrepreneur India)
• Astrotalk Reports 85% Revenue Growth In FY25 (Outlook Business)