SoftBank Maintains Stakeโ as Meeshoโฃ Launches $606 Million IPO, Pioneeringโฃ a New Eraโ for Indian E-commerce
Meesho, the Bengaluru-based e-commerce marketplace, is set to become the first major Indian e-commerceโ company to go public โwith an initial public offering (IPO)โ valued at approximately $606 โฃmillion. โWhile Peak โคXV Partners (formerlyโข Sequoia Capital โIndia) is reducing itsโค holdings by selling โaround 17.38 million shares โข- representing roughly 13% of its stake – SoftBank has opted to remain investedโ in theโค company.
Meesho has rapidly gained traction in India by focusing on a low-cost model catering to price-sensitive consumers and small merchants.โ This strategy hasโฃ increasingly โคchallenged established players like Amazon and Flipkart. The company differentiates itself through a commission-light approach, primarily generating revenue from logistics fees, advertising, and other services, alongsideโ commissions from its Meesho Mall channel.
Recent financial โคdisclosures reveal significant growth, with revenue from operations reachingโ โน55.78 billion (approximately โฃ$624.0 million) for the six months ending September 30, a rise from โโน43.11 billion โ(around $482.0 million) the previous year. โNet Merchandise Value also increased by 44% year-over-yearโฃ to โน191.94 billion (roughly $2.15 billion). However, Meesho’s losses โขwidened during theโข sameโ period, reporting a restated loss before tax of โโน4.33 billionโฃ (around $48.4 million) compared โto โน0.24 billion (about $2.7 million) โขa year earlier.
The platform boasts a significant userโค base, recording 234.20 million transacting users -โค individuals who made at โleast one purchase – in โthe last 12 months.โข It also supports a network of 706,471 annual transacting sellers, defined as those โขreceiving at least oneโ order within the year.โ Meesho further leverages a network of overโ 50,000 active content creators who drive product discovery through user-generated content, resulting in at least one placed order through their channels over the past year.
Meesho positions itself as a “value-focused” platform, contrasting with the “convenience-led” approach of Amazon โฃand Flipkart. The company โdraws parallels to accomplished value marketplaces globally, including Pinduoduo in China, Shopee in Southeast asia, and Mercado Libre in Latinโค America. Founder Vidit โAatrey emphasized the appeal ofโค a broad selection coupledโข with affordability as key driversโ of customer loyalty.
the โIPO is โexpected to โฃenhance Meesho’s ability to attract top talent โand bolster โconfidence โขwithin its ecosystem, according โขto CFO Dhiresh Bansal. A public listing is anticipatedโค toโ strengthenโฃ theโ company’s brand recognition among potential employees,includingโค those from โlarger โขtech firms,and reinforce governance standards for consumers,sellers,and logistics partners.
The IPO opens for public subscription โon December 3, with anโ anchor book scheduled forโค December 2. Theโ offering isโ allocatedโข with 75% reserved for qualified institutional buyers, โฃ10% โforโฃ retail investors, and 15% for non-institutional investors. SoftBank declined โฃto comment on the IPO.
