Meesho’s IPO gameplan: The e-commerce firm looks to raise $1 bn

Homegrown e-commerce player Meesho is planning to tap initial public offering (IPO) market and looks to raise around $1 billion at market valuation of $10 billion. The SoftBank-backed e-commerce firm has reportedly hired Morgan Stanley, Kotak Mahindra Capital and Citi as advisers for its proposed IPO.

The e-commerce unicorn, co-founded by Vidit Atrey and Sanjeev Bharnwal, is planning to file its draft IPO papers with the capital market regulator SEBI over the coming weeks. As Meesho looks to list its shares on the domestic stock exchanges, the company will have to shift its headquarter from Delaware in the U.S. to India.

Meesho was last valued at $3.9 billion as per Tracxn report, which is significantly lower than estimated IPO valuation figures. It has raised a total funding of $1.36 billion over 12 rounds, with its first funding round was down in May 2016, while the last one was a Series F round on January 27, 2025, for an undisclosed amount. The five investors participated in its latest round, lead by Tiger Global Management, Think Investments, Mars Growth Capital.

In terms of financial performance, Meesho achieved significant achievements in the financial year 2023-24, achieving profitability during the year. The company generated positive free cash flow and moreover operating cash flow of ₹232 crore for FY24. The revenue from operations grew by 33% to ₹7,615 crore, driven by 36% YoY growth in orders delivered as well as repeat customers transacted on the platform. The company reported adjusted loss after tax of ₹53 crore, which narrowed from ₹1,569 crore in FY23, excluding employee share based compensation expense.

Meesho has 145 million unique annual transacting users (ATUs) in FY24, implying approximately 10% of India has made a purchase through our platform. The company claimed to be the most downloaded shopping app overall in India, and also crossed the overall 500 million install mark during last fiscal.

New Age IPOs gaining momentum

The calendar year 2024 was a blockbuster for new-age tech companies, with startups like Swiggy, Go Digit, TBO Tek, Awfis, Ola Electric, FirstCry, ixigo, and Unicommerce listing their shares on the stock exchanges. Recently, PhysicsWallah (PW) filed its draft red herring prospectus (DRHP) with the capital market regulator through the confidential route, looking to raise ₹4,600 crore. Consumer electronics brand boAt has recently received shareholders’ approval to raise around ₹2,000-2,500 crore via IPO route. The electric two-wheeler startup Ather Energy, logistics major Ecom Express, coworking startup Smartworks, having received final observation from the capital market regulator SEBI, are set to launch their IPO soon.

After years of muted activity, 2024 turned out to be the season of spring for new-age technology companies (NATCs), with eight startups listing their shares on the domestic stock exchanges. The renowned new-age technology companies (NATCs) such as Swiggy, Ola Electric, Awfis, GoDigit Insurance, TBO Tek, FirstCry, Ixigo and Unicommerce raised ₹27,421 crore via IPO route, making a strong comeback after 3 quiet years. The fundraising in 2024 was the highest since 2021, when seven big NATCs, including Paytm, Zomato and Nykaa, garnered ₹42,826 crore through the primary market. After 2021, the next two years were a quieter period for startups, with five going public in 2023, and only three in 2022, as many of them deferred IPO listing due to valuation concerns, global tech slowdown, and weak performance of industry heavyweights Paytm, Zomato, and Nykaa.

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