Meesho’s $606M IPO pops as enthusiasm for India’s e-commerce startups rises

Meesho, an Indian e-commerce marketplace, had a bully archetypal time arsenic a nationalist company, with its shares climbing arsenic overmuch arsenic 46% from its contented terms arsenic investors jumped to drawback a portion of the institution built astir tiny merchants and value-conscious consumers.

The banal opened astatine ₹162.50, up from the contented terms of ₹111, and reached a precocious of ₹171.84, giving Meesho a marketplace capitalization of ₹780 cardinal (around $8.69 billion). The institution raised $606 cardinal successful the IPO.

10-year-old Meesho was past valued astatine astir $5 cardinal pursuing a backstage backing circular successful 2021.

Elevation Capital, Peak XV Partners and Y Combinator were among the aboriginal shareholders who person sold their stakes successful the IPO. Investors including SoftBank, Prosus and Fidelity haven’t sold immoderate shares yet.

Founded successful 2015, Meesho started disconnected arsenic WhatsApp-based social-commerce level for first-time online shoppers. It has managed to vie successfully with incumbents similar Flipkart and Amazon by leaning into a low-cost marketplace exemplary aimed astatine connecting tiny merchants with price-sensitive consumers crossed smaller towns successful the country. In the past 12 months, it reported 234.2 cardinal transacting users, 706,471 yearly sellers, and implicit 50,000 progressive contented creators.

“Ringing the doorbell mostly means trading,” said Meesho co-founder and CEO Vidit Aatrey during the nationalist listing ceremony. “But today, for maine astatine Meesho, for everyone astatine Meesho, this ringing fundamentally means that our ngo is not conscionable our mission. Now it’s everyone’s mission.”

In the six months ended September 30, Meesho generated gross of ₹55.78 cardinal (approximately $620.3 million), up from ₹43.11 cardinal (around $479.6 million) a twelvemonth earlier, according to its prospectus. Net merchandise worth roseate 44% to ₹191.94 cardinal (about $2.14 billion) successful the aforesaid period. However, the company’s losses widened to ₹4.33 cardinal (roughly $48.2 million), compared with ₹0.24 cardinal (around $2.7 million) a twelvemonth earlier.

The Bengaluru-based institution compares itself to different value-driven marketplaces similar Pinduoduo successful China, Shopee successful Southeast Asia, and Mercado Libre successful Latin America. However, its commission-light exemplary has accrued unit connected Indian rivals Amazon and Flipkart.

Meesho’s listing follows a slew of startup IPOs successful India. In the past fewer months Pine Labs, Groww, Lenskart, Physics Wallah, and Capillary Technologies person gone public, and the momentum is expected to proceed adjacent year, with Flipkart, Oyo, and PhonePe preparing for listings.