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Filed and loaded: Startup DRHPs swell as firms eye Rs 20,000 crore in IPO proceeds

India's startup IPO engine is back in high gear. Over the last few weeks, a dozen new-age companies -- including Meesho, Groww, PhysicsWallah, Pine Labs, Urban Company and Wakefit -- have filed draft red herring prospectuses (DRHPs) with the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI), collectively looking to raise almost Rs 20,000 crore in primary capital. The filings signal more than just a busy pipeline. They reflect a shift in tone: founders and their investors are no longer waiting for perfect market conditions or chasing euphoric valuations. This time, they're coming to the public markets with cleaner books, clearer paths to profitability, and a deeper understanding of what public shareholders want. The momentum from issuers is also being driven by two more factors, as per Abhishek Bhagat, MD and Head - Digital and Technology Investment Banking at JM Financial. "One, the need to offer liquidity and exits to long-term investors. Two, the recognition that going public is no longer the end goal -- it's the start of a more serious, long-term phase involving follow-on capital, institutional participation, and full exits," he said. The filing frenzy A total of twelve startups have filed DRHPs with SEBI so far this year, including Meesho (Rs 4,250 crore), PhysicsWallah (Rs 4,600 crore), Curefoods (Rs 800 crore), Wakefit (Rs 468.2 crore), Urban Company (Rs 429 crore), Pine Labs (Rs 2,600 crore), Groww, Shadowfax (Rs 1,000-1,500 crore), Shiprocket (Rs 1,000-1,100 crore), Bluestone (Rs 1,000 crore), boAt (nearly Rs 1,000 crore), and Capillary Technologies (Rs 430 crore). These figures represent the primary capital each company is looking to raise through an IPO, and do not include any Offer-for-Sale (OFS) component from existing shareholders. OFS proceeds go to selling investors -- often early backers or promoters -- and do not add fresh capital to the company's balance sheet, but are a key part of the liquidity cycle in late-stage funding and are also eventually added in the total fundraises of companies. Notably, at least six of these filings -- Meesho, Groww, Shiprocket, PhysicsWallah, boAt and Shadowfax -- have been done confidentially. The mechanism, introduced by SEBI in 2022, allows companies to submit IPO documents without making them immediately public, giving them more flexibility around timing. "A confidential filing has easily provided a buffer of six months for companies to decide on their IPOs," said VT Bharadwaj, General Partner at A91 Partners. "So, companies are confidentially filing DRHPs and keeping processes ready. Once they know the time is right, they'll launch the IPOs. If not, they're ready to push out the timelines." While not all of these IPOs will materialise this year, the intent is clear: to list sooner rather than later, and to do so from a position of strength. This second wave of startup listings is also riding on the momentum built last year. In 2024, 13 new-age companies collectively raised over Rs 29,000 crore through IPOs -- a milestone year headlined by blockbuster listings from Swiggy, Ola Electric and FirstCry. That strong showing appears to have reassured both founders and late-stage investors that the public markets are not just open, but welcoming, if approached with discipline. "There's a cohort of companies in India, collectively valued at over $100 billion, that are now ready to go public," said Kashyap Chanchani, Managing Partner at The Rainmaker Group. "Almost all of them have shown the strongest pre-listing performance we've seen so far -- both in terms of growth and profitability -- compared to previously listed startups." Why the rush now? Another contributing factor for the rising IPO interest is that late-stage capital in private markets is becoming harder to come by. "Founders have also realised that there is a lull in overall funding. The excess liquidity they saw during 2021 isn't coming back," said Bharadwaj. "The $100-200 million rounds won't be as easy and common as they were a few years ago. So, for companies that want to raise that kind of capital, they have to tap either the private equity players or go public." Unlike 2021, when IPO filings were often rushed and markets were chasing momentum, this year's cohort is taking a more deliberate approach. Many of these companies are filing now with an eye on listing 6 to 18 months from now. SEBI's approval process typically takes two to three months, and startups get up to a 12-month window to go public after receiving the nod. "There isn't a strong correlation between public market sentiment and DRHP filings," Chanchani, from The Rainmaker Group, said. "Companies aren't trying to time the market when they file. The intent is to move early -- filings depend more on internal preparedness, SEBI timelines, and overall strategy." In fact, driven by the momentum, JM Financial's Bhagat expects anywhere between 15 and 25 startup IPOs this financial year and "that's nearly 3-4 times more than in any previous year," he said. JM Financial has advised over 20 companies on their IPOs in the last two years, including tech and consumer names like Zomato, Nykaa, FirstCry, and Ather Energy, among others. IPO map expands A report by The Rainmaker Group released in April this year highlighted just how strong the fundamentals are. The upcoming IPO cohort -- comprising more than 38 late-stage, VC-backed startups -- recorded average revenue growth of 39.1 percent in FY24 and an average year-on-year EBITDA margin improvement of 15.6 percent. Nearly two-thirds of them were profitable two years ahead of listing, a significant departure from the burn-heavy models of the past. The report also projected that India's 37 already-listed venture-backed startups -- which together account for $100 billion in market capitalisation -- could double that figure over the next two years, driven by this expanding IPO pipeline. These include companies that have filed already -- like Meesho, PhysicsWallah, Groww, Urban Company, Pine Labs, Shiprocket and Shadowfax -- as well as others expected to follow soon, including Flipkart, PhonePe, Zepto, Zetwerk, Lenskart, Oyo and OfBusiness. The sectoral mix is shifting too. While the 2021 wave was dominated by consumer internet and fintech, the upcoming listings reflect greater breadth -- from vertical commerce and healthtech, to D2C brands, logistics platforms, edtech firms and offline-to-online businesses. Wakefit and Curefoods are entering the public markets from opposite ends of the home and food spectrum, while players like boAt, Bluestone and Capillary bring a strong omnichannel or SaaS edge. Moneycontrol had reported in December last year that more than 25 startups were eyeing an IPO in 2025. Some, like Ather Energy and ArisInfra, have already listed. Ecom Express is soon to be acquired by listed rival Delhivery. Others -- including DevX, Smartworks, Zetwerk, PayU, and Cardekho -- are still preparing to file. But the composition of the DRHP wave has shifted since then, with new names like Wakefit, Capillary, Urban Company and Groww joining the fray. If filings continue at the current pace and approvals land as expected, 2025 could become the biggest year for startup IPOs in Indian capital markets -- not just in terms of volume, but in the maturity and diversity of companies going public.

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