The Indian capital markets are poised for a wave of listings by cloud-based software providers, with investment bankers and investors predicting that at least seven to eight such startups are preparing to go public locally over the next 12-18 months.
Unlike the consumer-facing firms that have dominated the listed pipeline so far, software-as-a-service (SaaS) companies are expected to drive tech initial public offerings (IPOs). RateGain and, more recently, Capillary Technologies have been the only large Saas listings in India.
Other ventures, including Amagi, Leadsquared, BusinessNext, Zenoti, Icertis, Mindtickle, Juspay and Whatfix, are either preparing for IPOs or considering public listings, bankers and investors said.
“Over the last few quarters, we have been seeing a clear build-up in the SaaS IPO pipeline in India, particularly amongst profitably growing companies that scaled during the 2020–22 period and are now approaching predictable ARR (annual recurring revenue) and operating profitability thresholds,” said Pankaj Naik, managing director and co-head, digital, tech and consumer investment banking, Avendus Capital. “The number of IPO-ready SaaS companies today is materially higher than in 2021–22, when only a handful qualified.”
Several SaaS companies, having crossed the $80-100 million revenue mark during the last fiscal year, are trying to raise funds as they seek to provide exits to investors and protect their turf from challengers built around artificial intelligence (AI), experts told Mint.
Still, the expected IPO rush will have to overcome AI disruption of the global SaaS industry and slowing growth after the pandemic-era highs. Valuations saw a sharp derating after the US Fed’s 2022 rate hikes and the unwinding of the post-Covid growth expectations, with cloud and SaaS indices falling 50–60% or more from their 2021 peaks. While large, cash-generative names such as Salesforce, Snowflake and HubSpot proved relatively resilient, many mid- and small-cap SaaS stocks, including Freshworks, witnessed steep drawdowns from listing-era highs.
In the queue
However, Indian cloud-based platforms are lining up public listings before the new breed of AI-native startups fully disrupts the industry.
Amagi, which provides cloud-based applications for media firms, received approval from the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) for an IPO last month, with a fresh issue of ₹1,020 crore. The company is evaluating its listing timeline.
“…we continue to stay disciplined in how we evaluate market dynamics,” an Amagi spokesperson said, declining to comment on forward-looking matters related to IPO timing.
Amagi is not alone. Avataar Ventures, a global growth equity fund that has invested in Amagi and is a backer of other cloud-based platform public listings such as RateGain and Capillary Technologies, is seeing the IPO pipeline building up in its portfolio.
“After Amagi, we have BusinessNext and Zenoti, both of which are above $100 million in revenue,” said Mohan Kumar, founding managing partner, Avataar Ventures.
BusinessNext provides solutions for banks and financial services firms, while Zenoti offers cloud software for spas and fitness centres.
Westbridge-backed lead management software provider Leadsquared told Yourstory earlier this year that it was targeting an IPO in 12-18 months. While LeadSquared did not comment on any IPO timeline, chief executive Nilesh Patel told Mint that the company has spent the last few years “strengthening fundamentals such as profitability, operational efficiency, vertical focus and its US business”.
What’s opening the gates
For over a decade, Indian SaaS companies followed a familiar playbook—build in India, list overseas. That long-standing model is breaking down, as companies such as Clevertap and Browserstack have initiated process to flip back to India, joining bigger names across the startup ecosystem, including Flipkart, Razorpay, and Phonepe.
As Indian public markets open up, a growing base of SaaS firms crossing $50–100 million in recurring revenue is making domestic IPOs both feasible and attractive, experts told Mint.
“Mature SaaS companies that are domiciled in the US/Singapore are moving back to India because they realize they can command premium valuations here. The Indian market understands their story better than a crowded NASDAQ,” said Nishant Singh, CEO and co-founder BusinessNext.
Attractive valuations in India are another reason. Unlike the US, where SaaS businesses have been primarily benchmarked on revenue multiples, Indian public market investors still fundamentally value technology companies on either one- to two-year forward Ebitda or steady-state Ebitda, said Naik of Avendus. (Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization–a measure of operating income).
The valuations are not hype driven, making listings more sustainable, he said. “Valuations have rationalised, making IPOs more realistic rather than hype-driven as in the 2021 consumer wave.”
SaaS valuations jumped from 9-10x EV/revenue (enterprise value-to-sales multiple) in 2020 to a peak of 19–20x in 2021, before correcting to 6–7x in 2022–23. It has since recovered modestly to 7–8x in 2024–25, according to S&P Capital IQ data collated by M&A advisory firm Aventis Advisors in an October report. Meanwhile, in India, the recently listed Saas firm Capillary Technologies is trading at an 8.04x EV/sales multiple.
Many such firms are already engaging bankers for governance upgrades and draft red herring prospectus (DRHP) preparedness, signalling concrete intent rather than early-stage exploration, said Naik. “Macro tailwinds such as enterprise digitisation, cloud adoption and AI uptake are reinforcing this momentum, creating a structurally stronger IPO environment.”
According to bankers and investors, other Saas firms that have crossed a certain scale and are expected to be in the IPO lineup soon, include AI-powered contract management platform Icertis; revenue enablement platform Mindtickle; payments operating system Juspay; and in-app training and support software Whatfix, among others, with a majority of them eyeing India as their listing destination.
Even as bankers flag a growing pipeline, many late-stage SaaS companies are not rushing to list and are, instead, prioritizing operational maturity over timing the market.
“Compared to earlier cycles, discussions are more centred around revenue quality, operating leverage and capital efficiency, rather than just growth numbers,” a Whatfix spokesperson said.
Queries emailed to Zenoti, Mindtickle, Icertis, Fractal, Innovaccer and Druva on Tuesday and Wednesday did not elicit a response at the time of publishing.
Chargebee and Juspay declined to comment.
Threat of AI disruption
Many of the Saas firms were founded in the FY14-17 period. The number of such startups surged by 2020-21, when most funds were backing such players. “If you fast forward a decade (since FY14-17), only a few companies have scaled,” said Kumar of Avataar Ventures.
Sumer Juneja, managing partner for EMEA and India at SoftBank Investment Advisers, said in a recent interview that many SaaS companies were funded everywhere, but growth has slowed. “In 2021, there was a lot of aggression around SaaS. When people went back to work, some of that incremental software demand tapered off.”
Investors believe that after the IPOs of such startups in the IPO queue, India’s Saas story will shift to more AI-driven startups.
“After some 10 or so companies, I honestly don’t see many more (pure-play Saas startups). This is not a five-year story — it’s more of a two- to three-year window,” said Kumar. “After this, we’ll see a new wave — companies with SaaS characteristics, workflow automation, and AI combined. Think of it as SaaS moving into AI — rolling up vertical SaaS companies and adding an AI layer to scale faster.”
In June, Mint reported that private market investors are shifting toward AI-native startups, which are pulling ahead of traditional SaaS players on funding and valuations.
Juneja pointed out that over the past two-and-a-half years, AI has begun redefining what a SaaS product is. “There is no longer a single technology or IT budget—those budgets are getting fragmented.”
However, according to Kumar, “As of now, Indian IPO markets don’t value you for being SaaS or AI. They value profitability.”