Meesho has partnered with BSE to launch Project Shikhar, a new initiative aimed at helping high-performing e-commerce sellers and MSMEs transition into publicly listed companies on the BSE SME platform. The collaboration, formalised through an MoU on June 2, is designed to create a structured path for small digital businesses to access growth capital and meet IPO-readiness milestones.

The programme will screen and onboard eligible sellers over the next year, and guide them through entity conversion, compliance tracking and regulatory positioning required for a listing. Meesho said the initiative is meant to remove friction for entrepreneurial businesses that have scaled rapidly online but find the move into investor-ready structures complex.

Sundararaman Ramamurthy, managing director and CEO of BSE, said the exchange had pioneered its SME platform to give India’s dynamic, job-creating businesses a direct route to capital markets. “Over the years, the BSE SME platform has enabled hundreds of MSMEs to list, raise growth capital, and strengthen governance standards,” he said. “This partnership with Meesho extends that ecosystem to digital-first entrepreneurs, helping e-commerce sellers become public companies.”

Lopamudra Rao, head of corporate affairs at Meesho, said a significant share of the company’s seller ecosystem comprises entrepreneurial businesses that have scaled quickly on the platform. “Moving from a successful e-commerce brand to an investor-ready entity is complex, and Project Shikhar removes that friction,” she said. “Through this partnership with BSE, we are not just helping sellers raise public capital; we are building a pipeline of compliant, transparent businesses that will fuel India’s formal economy.”

Broadening access

The move comes at a time when a large share of India’s retail commerce still operates in the informal or unorganised sector, often with limited access to expansion capital. Meesho said Project Shikhar is meant to bridge that gap by creating a stage-by-stage roadmap for public listing.

The BSE, which is Asia’s oldest exchange and the world’s largest by number of listed companies, said the SME platform has already helped hundreds of companies raise capital and strengthen governance. Meesho said the initiative fits its broader goal of enabling entrepreneurship at scale by empowering millions of small businesses with minimal upfront investment.

The partnership is important because it links India’s fast-growing digital commerce ecosystem with formal capital markets. If the programme scales as intended, it could open a new listing pipeline for online sellers that have already built operating history, revenue visibility and platform demand but need institutional capital to expand.

Shares of Meesho Ltd ended 1.50% lower at ₹177.50 apiece on the BSE on Tuesday. Even so, the stock has fallen only a little over 2% so far this year, outperforming the BSE Consumer Discretionary index, which has declined nearly 8% over the same period.