The initial public offerings (IPOs) by small and medium enterprises (SMEs) hit a new high in 2023-2024 (FY24). In this financial year, data from the Prime Database showed that 190 companies raised Rs 5,579 crore through the SME IPO route. This financial year's tally bettered the fundraising in the previous financial year when 125 companies raised Rs 2,235 crore.
There have been more instances of a management team buying out the owners of a company after the pandemic. There are eight such transactions, called management buyouts (MBOs), in the five years ending 2024, according to data from tracker LSEG shared with Business Standard.
In a bid to ease compliance towards companies planning public offers (IPOs), the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) has notified norms that open more avenues to meet the minimum promoters' contribution (MPC). The market regulator has permitted promoter group entities and non-individual shareholders to contribute to the mandated promoters' contribution in the case of a shortfall without being identified as a promoter.
Ola Electric, the SoftBank-backed electric vehicle (EV) maker, is likely to pursue a valuation of approximately $4.5 billion in its upcoming initial public offering (IPO), marking about 18 per cent decrease from its last funding round valuation of around $5.5 billion, according to industry sources. The Bhavish Aggarwal-founded firm aims to file for the IPO by next month, according to people familiar with the matter. "The strategy is to price the IPO attractively for investors, fostering long-term growth and wealth creation," said a source.
Clearly, some of the bullishness of the early days has gone missing. Ola's market share is slipping amid rising competition from incumbents like Bajaj Auto and TVS.
Fintech firm One97 Communications' managing director and chief executive officer Vijay Shekhar Sharma has voluntarily surrendered 2.1 crore shares worth about Rs 1,800 crore, as per a regulatory filing and share closing price of the company.
'...hesitate to support the risk-taking it requires.'
Fundraising by Indian corporates through equity and debt reached all-time high in the calendar year 2024, according to primedatabase.com. The overall public equity fundraising stood at Rs 3.7 trillion in 2024, a rise of 159 per cent from Rs 1.4 trillion in 2023. If Rights Issues of Rs 25,973 crore were to be added, the overall equity fundraising would touch nearly Rs 4 trillion in 2024.
'Entering India is exciting, but it's also challenging. You have to be prepared for long-term investment.'
Equity fundraising through initial public offerings (IPOs) rose 20 per cent during the financial year 2023-24 (FY24). During the period, 76 Indian corporates raised Rs 61,915 crore through main board IPOs, compared to Rs 52,116 crore mobilised by 37 IPOs in 2022-23, as disclosed by PRIME Database. However, if one excludes the mega Life Insurance Corporation (LIC) IPO, which came out in 2022-23, IPO mobilisation increased by 58 per cent from last year.
Layoffs, corporate restructuring, governance and most importantly profitability: The 14 Indian startups that plan IPOs this year are pulling out all the stops to ensure successful market debuts.
More than half a dozen companies will hit the market with their initial public offerings (IPOs) between now and the end of next week. The cumulative amount raised from these IPOs is expected to be around Rs 8,000 crore. Stationery products firm DOMS Industries and home financier India Shelter Finance's IPOs - of Rs 1,200 crore each - got off to a flying start on Wednesday (December 13), with the former garnering over six times the subscription and the latter getting 1.5 times subscribed.
Equity fundraising through initial public offerings (IPOs) rose 20 per cent during the financial year 2023-24 (FY24). During the period, 76 Indian corporates raised Rs 61,915 crore through main board IPOs, compared to Rs 52,116 crore mobilised by 37 IPOs in 2022-23, as disclosed by PRIME Database. However, if one excludes the mega Life Insurance Corporation (LIC) IPO, which came out in 2022-23, IPO mobilisation increased by 58 per cent from last year.
'A key reason for the strong interest in IPOs has been an increased focus on profitability and reasonable pricing of deals.'
Markets regulator Sebi is actively working with the Ministry of Finance and other financial regulators on setting up a centralised KYC (Know Your Customer) system, chairman Tuhin Kanta Pandey has said. The Central KYC is an online database that maintains KYC records of customers in a centralised manner, aiming to streamline compliance across financial institutions.
'Expect India to keep doing well irrespective of geopolitics.'
Electric two-wheeler company Ola Electric Mobility will float its initial public offering (IPO) on August 2, and a significant part of the proceeds will be used for capacity expansion of its cell manufacturing plant and revving up R&D. The initial share sale will conclude on August 6, and the bidding for anchor investors will open for a day on August 1, according to the red herring prospectus (RHP).
The ongoing weakness in the broader equity market is likely to weigh on primary market investor participation ahead, which has already begun showing signs of fatigue, analysts said. The spillover effect, they say, will continue as long as the midcap and smallcap segments remain volatile. "The effect will be felt in the IPO market. The subscription levels have come down in the last few days and recent 4-5 IPOs have not done well.
When Gensol Engineering made its public market debut through a small and medium enterprises (SME) initial public offering (IPO) in September 2019, its promoters held a commanding 96 per cent stake. Now, that figure has shrunk to a "negligible" fraction.
'What is working is quality management, great teams, engineers, platforms, and highly differentiated services.'
'Sell in May, go away' is a popular market adage. But 'Don't sell any new shares in May' is the best kept secret of Dalal Street that's set to break. Sample this: the last four General Election election cycles starting 2004 have not seen a single initial public offering (IPO) launch during the month of May.
Fundraising via the initial public offering (IPO) route by companies may touch Rs 1 trillion in financial year 2024-25 (FY25), according to a recent note by Pantomath Group - a mid-market investment bank. During the financial year 2023-24 (FY24), 76 companies tapped the markets through mainboard IPOs, Pantomath said, raising nearly Rs 62,862 crore. This is a 21 per cent rise compared to FY23, the note added.
Indian startups raised a total of $1.65 billion (about Rs 14,418 crore) in funding at a median valuation of $83.2 million in February 2025, according to data from Traxcn. This brings the total funding in FY25 (April-February) to $25.4 billion, spread across 2,200 rounds, the data showed.
The Rs 6,145-crore initial public offer of electric two-wheeler company Ola Electric Mobility got fully subscribed on the second day of bidding on Monday, driven by demand from retail investors and non-institutional investors. The initial share sale received bids for 49,43,63,610 shares against 46,51,59,451 shares on offer, translating into 1.06 times subscription, according to the NSE data.
Foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) have invested Rs 25,300 crore through the anchor book for IPOs in 2024, surpassing the Rs 20,351 crore invested by domestic mutual funds (MFs). FPIs accounted for 46.6 per cent of shares sold in the anchor category, the highest share since 2021, according to PRIME Database.
Food delivery major Swiggy has received approval from its shareholders for a $1.25 billion initial public offering (IPO), according to filings made with the Registrar of Companies sourced by Tofler. The Bengaluru-based firm plans to raise as much as Rs 3,750 crore (around $450 million) via a fresh issue and up to Rs 6,664 crore (around $800 million) through an offer-for-sale (OFS) component, the filings stated.
Shares worth over Rs 50,000 crore (or approximately $6 billion) are set to become freely tradable between now and April 10. Historically, such substantial volumes have been absorbed by a buoyant block-deal market.
The IPO market is set to be bustling next week, with 11 companies like Vishal Mega Mart, TPG Capital-backed Sai Life Sciences and fintech firm One Mobikwik Systems gearing up to launch their initial share sales, collectively aiming to raise nearly Rs 18,500 crore. Other mainboard IPOs to be launched during this period are Inventurus Knowledge Solutions Ltd and Blackstone-owned diamond grading firm International Gemmological Institute (India) Ltd.
India and the US are expected to have smooth trade negotiations after US President Donald Trump and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi had a productive meeting during Modi's visit to the White House last month, Stephen A Schwarzman, chairman, chief executive officer, and co-founder of one of the world's largest alternative investment firms, Blackstone Group, said in Mumbai on Wednesday.
Flipkart, the e-commerce company owned by Walmart, is intensifying its efforts to achieve profitability as it is eyeing a valuation of approximately $60 billion at the time of its initial public offering (IPO), now planned in 2025-2026, instead of this year, according to people familiar with the matter. The firm might consider listing in the US or any other geography, including India. The company, which counts the likes of Amazon and Reliance's JioMart among its competitors in India's burgeoning e-commerce market, had also contemplated launching an IPO in 2022-2023.
Quick commerce major Zepto has raised $340 million in a follow-on financing round at a valuation of $5 billion as it gears up for an initial public offering (IPO). This is Zepto's third big-ticket fundraise within a year. With this, the company has raised more than $1 billion in 12 months.
Patience can be rewarding. 'Post-listing, sanity often returns to valuations of newly-listed businesses within six to nine months. Buy then.'
In the hottest sector of AI, where most global VC funding is going currently, the country's record has not been anything to write home about.
Bessemer Venture Partners has closed $350 million in capital for its second dedicated India fund to back founders in the region, who build enduring companies.
Base metals major Hindalco's overseas subsidiary, Novelis, has submitted a draft registration with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for the proposed public offering of promoters' shares. Novelis' sole shareholder, AV Minerals (Netherlands) NV, is a 100 per cent subsidiary of Hindalco. Novelis would not receive any proceeds from the sale. Assuming SEC clearance could go through in about 6 months.
FOMO-driven investing is reshaping India's stock market. Swati Saxena explains how social media hype fuels risky bets and how to protect your wealth.
Fresh meat and seafood delivery unicorn Licious is intensifying its talent acquisition endeavours as it pursues profitability and readies for an initial public offering (IPO) within the next 24 months. Delightful Gourmet, Licious' parent company, has named 39-year-old Karishma Gupta as its new chief financial officer (CFO). Her appointment aligns with Licious' drive for profitable growth through an omnichannel strategy.
Venture capital (VC) and private equity (PE) funds had, in 2024, taken bets on traditional businesses rather than tech-first domains like consumer tech, software as a service (SaaS) and software. According to data from Bain & Co, Pitchbook, Venture Intelligence, VCC Edge and AVCJ, prominent VC funds like PeakXV saw their share in this traditional space go up sharply from 14 per cent in 2023 to 23 per cent in 2024.
Net flows from domestic institutional investors crossed Rs 5 trillion for the first time during a calendar year.
© 2026 Rediff.com - Investor Information - Advertise with us - Disclaimer - Privacy Policy - Sitemap - Feedback - About us - Terms of use - Grievances