India has bucked the worldwide development in preliminary public choices this 12 months, establishing itself as a uncommon shiny spot for tech listings whereas different main markets face continued headwinds. The world’s most populous nation is now getting ready for an much more substantial wave of startup IPOs in 2025.
Greater than 20 startups are getting ready to listing subsequent 12 months, in keeping with a number of sources acquainted with the plans. These embody business-to-business marketplaces Inframarket and Zetwerk, farm-to-produce enterprise CaptainFresh, skilled companies market UrbanCompany, jewellery retailer Bluestone, safety agency OneAssist, and offline-to-online retailer Magicpin.
Fast commerce startup Zepto, managed workspace supplier Desk Area, and industrial items platform Ofbusiness are additionally planning to file for IPOs subsequent 12 months. Further firms eyeing public listings embody Insurgent Meals, logistics agency Porter, e-commerce platform Meesho, funding app Groww, mattress vendor Wakefit, vehicle platform CarDekho, SaaS firm Capillary, and funds agency Pine Labs, although some listings could prolong into 2026.
In the event that they undergo as deliberate, the businesses will be a part of a wave that’s been gaining momentum. Already 12 startups, together with seven know-how companies, have gone public in 2024 in India, making it the one main market to indicate constant development in listings over the previous decade, in keeping with Pitchbook information.
This efficiency stands in stark distinction to different main markets. The U.S. has recorded 22 venture-backed tech IPOs this 12 months, nearly flat from the 21 tech IPOs of 2023 and falling considerably in need of 53 listings the U.S. market noticed in 2020. China’s tech IPO momentum has equally waned, with 56 listings this 12 months in comparison with 117 in 2022. Europe has managed only one extra tech IPO than India, whereas the UK market has remained dormant, with no tech listings in 2024.
“The IPO markets have been opening slower than we anticipated in March,” Morgan Stanley analysts wrote in a current be aware. “Even having ‘obtained match’ since 2022, many unicorns nonetheless stay unprofitable companies.”
Indian meals supply platform Swiggy’s $1.35 billion itemizing this month is the biggest world tech IPO this 12 months, in keeping with JPMorgan’s evaluation.
Speaking with TechCrunch, Anand Daniels, a companion at Accel whose agency noticed two portfolio firms listing this month, noticed that “India is quick changing into a promising hub for tech IPOs pushed by its robust capital markets and a thriving innovation ecosystem that continues to draw substantial investor curiosity.”
The shift is a big one for the Indian market, which has traditionally struggled with exit alternatives and confronted skepticism from home institutional and retail traders concerning loss-making firms going public.
JPMorgan’s India head of fairness capital markets, Abhinav Bharti, attributed India’s distinctive place to a number of elements: macroeconomic development, rising home capital, and political stability.
The expansion in India’s capital markets has been significantly noteworthy. “What else has grown is definitely the liquidity, which is a a number of of the market development,” stated an funding banker. “In the event you have a look at 2019 to 2024, full-year averages, the market cap has doubled. We have been at about $2.6 to $2.7 trillion {dollars}. We at the moment are at $5.2 trillion to $5.3 trillion. In the identical interval, the each day liquidity has tripled, from $5 billion to $15 billion.”
The surge in IPO preparations comes amid a slowdown in personal market dealmaking. “The muted atmosphere and extra scrutiny from VCs pressured startups to let go of their peak 2021 valuations,” stated a companion at one of many largest enterprise capital companies in India who requested to not be named. “However extra curiously, it additionally pressured them to enhance their funds. The result’s that many startups in 2021 that needed to develop into ‘IPO prepared’ in 5 years are already there.”
Along with Zepto, TableSpace, and others, Prosus-owned PayU just lately introduced plans for a 2025 itemizing, whereas pharmaceutical e-commerce platform Pharmeasy is getting ready for an IPO following important restructuring this 12 months. Monetary companies agency MobiKwik can be planning to listing subsequent 12 months.
Tech firms and healthcare companies signify greater than 50% of S&P 500 Index. The identical companies account for lower than 20% on India’s benchmark Nifty 50. There’s a variety of room for development for tech firms in India, stated Bharti.
Going public doesn’t imply an organization’s future is safe. The aforementioned funding banker stated that some tech startups that went public in recent times in India hadn’t matured or confirmed their enterprise fashions have been defensible.
“My fear is that when you could have a lot euphoria within the markets, the keenness for firms and shareholders to priortize itemizing and attempting to listing earlier than the businesses are mature sufficient to get listed results in accidents,” he stated.
