Startups aim for over Rs 18,000 crore in D-Sreet dhamaka

Time of India

8 hours ago

ETtech
ETtech
A dozen new-age companies that have filed their draft IPO (initial public offering) papers this year will collectively raise over Rs 18,000 crore (more than $2 billion) through fresh issuances of shares, signalling growing confidence in public markets as a fundraising avenue even for mid-to-small startups.Ecommerce platform Meesho , expected to file its draft prospectus confidentially soon, is targeting Rs 4,250 crore, the largest fresh issue in this cohort.It is followed by edtech firm PhysicsWallah at Rs 4,000 crore.Fintech companies Pine Labs and Groww are looking to raise Rs 2,600 crore and Rs 1,735 crore, respectively. Others including Boat Capillary Technologies and Urban Company are planning smaller primary issues — each under Rs 1,000 crore. These figures exclude the offer-for-sale component, which will push the overall IPO sizes higher.Analysts and investment bankers said Indian startups are increasingly eyeing local stock exchanges for their listings, driven by robust valuation multiples in the public markets and growing maturity of the domestic startup ecosystem.This has particularly led to smaller companies coming to the public markets to not only raise capital but also to provide exit to their investors.By comparison, a group of five new-economy companies that went public in 2021 and 2022 — Zomato, Paytm, Delhivery, PB Fintech and Nykaa — raised more than Rs 25,000 crore in fresh capital with Zomato (now Eternal) and Paytm accounting for over Rs 17,000 crore.Following this, 2023 and 2024 saw the emergence of smaller sized public issues with companies such as Ixigo, Awfis, Blackbuck, Mobikwik and Honasa Consumer raising less than Rs 1,000 crore.'Not surprisingly India has become the third largest IPO hub after the US and China for internet companies. Most tech startups/internet companies now appear to want to list in India versus in the US as they tend to get better multiples when listed in India,' analysts at Bank of America Global Research said in a June note.'Indeed, multiple internet companies with foreign domiciles have moved back their base to India to be listed in India,' the report added.Of the 12 companies, half are taking Sebi's confidential route to file their draft prospectuses, which allows them more time to finalise the size of their IPO as well as to keep their financials under wraps until such a time they decide to go ahead with their public issue. These include Groww, PhysicsWallah, Shiprocket, Boat, Shadowfax, and Meesho, which is yet to file.For other companies, the reasons to mop up fresh capital vary from meeting working capital requirements and repaying loans to funding expansion and investing in research and development.Investment bankers said valuations for companies will depend on market conditions as well as their business performance, including profitability and cash flows.Bengaluru-based wealth management firm Groww reported over threefold jump in its net profit to Rs 1,819 crore and a 31% rise in revenue to Rs 4,056 crore for fiscal 2025. Similarly, at-home services platform Urban Company turned profitable in FY25 posting a net profit of Rs 240 crore against a loss of Rs 93 crore in the previous financial year. Hyperlocal logistics firm Shadowfax also saw its net loss narrowing in FY24 significantly, while posting an operating-level profit.'For many of these companies, going public is an option not only because the markets are buoyant but also because they have reached a certain maturity. Broadly, the benchmarks are in place and the companies are either market leaders or profitable and are likely to notch up better multiples,' an investment banker said on the condition of anonymity. He highlighted that barring a few high-growth sectors such as quick commerce and some segments in fintech, private market funding continued to be subdued.'Even for loss-making companies, public market investors will look for some level of predictability in metrics, whether it is profitability or cash flows,' he added. ET reported in April — following the imposition of 'reciprocal tariffs' by US President Donald Trump — that new-age companies could take a hard look at their plans to go public given the volatility in the broader markets. However, even at the time, investors said that companies might file for the approval of the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) and wait for a conducive window to secure the desired IPO pricing.