Meesho, Fractal to join the year-end IPO frenzy

Fractal will launch the process for its ₹4,900 crore ($560 million) initial public offering (IPO) in the first week of next month for a listing by mid-December, the people said, speaking on the condition of anonymity. Meesho is targeting a $800-850-million issue, spanning an offer-for-sale and a fresh issue component, at a valuation of $8-8.2 billion in the last week of November and will subsequently list early next month, the people said.

The two will join the growing list of other new-age startups, including Groww, Lenskart, Pine Labs and PhysicsWallah, that seek to go public in the current quarter, marking one of the busiest periods in the capital markets this year.

Meesho and Fractal did not respond to Mint’s requests for a comment till the time of publishing.

“We are seeing an amazing confluence of demand and supply," said Pranav Haldea, managing director at Prime Database. “With companies of different sizes, sectors and types coming to the market, there is also active demand from investors, primarily domestic institutions that are flush with retail money, looking for newer companies to invest in."

In the last three-four years, he said, nearly 60% of the IPO volumes have happened in the last three months of the year. This year has seen a record number of filings despite volatility in the initial months, he said. “As long as the secondary market remains stable, even if not bullish, we will see more companies coming out with IPOs."

IPO pipeline

India’s IPO market has been buoyant this year after a slower start, with listings from companies such as JSW Cement Ltd, Tata Capital Ltd, Ather Energy Ltd and LG Electronics India Ltd. According to a Bernstein report, Indian companies have raised $14 billion in 2025 via IPOs, ranking fourth globally behind the US ($53 billion), Hong Kong ($23 billion) and China ($16 billion).

The first two quarters of the year saw nine issues, followed by 46 listings in the previous quarter and 25 so far in the current three-month period, according to data shared by Prime Database. Other prominent issues that happened this year include HDB Financial Services Ltd, Indiqube Spaces Ltd, Bluestone Jewellery and Lifestyle Ltd, We Work India Ltd, Smartworks Ltd, Orkla India Ltd and Hexaware Technologies Ltd.

At least 30 more companies, including Milky Mist Dairy Food Ltd, Curefoods India Ltd, Shiprocket, Capillary Technologies, Wakefit Innovations Ltd, Shadowfax Technologies Ltd and Gaja Capital Ltd have received regulatory approval in the last six months, paving the way for a potential listing next year, Prime data showed.

“There is also a huge pipeline of companies with PE-VC investors looking to tap the market. It is very important that these investors get their exits as only then will they be able to raise money to invest in the next set of companies. It is a sign of a maturing capital market ecosystem," Haldea said.

“There used to be a time when foreign investor participation was extremely crucial for an IPO, but given the heft of mutual funds, a lot of smaller IPOs can go through just with their support," he said, adding that even traditional Indian promoter-owned entities are tapping the market today as they see a lot of opportunity for creating wealth.

Meesho’s IPO

Meesho, which filed its updated draft papers after a confidential filing earlier this year, is expected to raise ₹4,250 crore in fresh capital, in addition to selling 175.6 million shares under an offer for sale (OFS). Its selling shareholders include Elevation Capital, Peak XV Partners, Y Combinator, Vidit Aatrey, Sanjeev Kumar, Man Hay Tam and VH Capital, among others.

The company has appointed Kotak Mahindra Capital, Axis Capital, Morgan Stanley India, JPMorgan and Citigroup to help with the issue. Meesho, which flipped its base from the US to India, was among the firms that received approval from Sebi last week.

The company outlined that it will use the proceeds towards cloud infrastructure in its subsidiary Meesh Technologies Pvt. Ltd, payment of salaries of its existing and replacement hires for the machine learning and AI and technology teams, for branding and marketing, and to fund inorganic growth through acquisitions.

Founded in 2015 by Aatrey and Sanjeev Barnwal, Meesho’s FY25 operating revenue jumped 25% to ₹9,390 crore, while its net loss widened to ₹3,941 crore from ₹327.6 crore in FY24.

Fractal’s offer

Fractal’s IPO entails a fresh issue of equity shares worth ₹1,279.3 crore and an OFS of up to ₹3,620.7 crore, according to the draft red herring prospectus filed with the regulator in August. Its selling shareholders include Quinag Bidco, TPG, Satya Kumari Remala, Rao Venkateswara Remala and GLM Family Trust.

The company plans to use the proceeds from the public issue to invest in its subsidiary, Fractal USA. This investment will cover costs incurred to purchase laptops, establish new office space in India, fund research and development, and support sales and marketing activities under Fractal Alpha. Additionally, the funds will be used to finance inorganic growth through potential acquisitions and other strategic initiatives, as well as general corporate expenses.

Founded in 2000 by Srikanth Velamakanni and Pranay Agrawal, Fractal provides data-driven insights and assists decision-making through end-to-end AI solutions to large global enterprises across multiple industries. Its major clients include global tech giants such as Microsoft, Apple, Nvidia, Alphabet, Amazon, Meta and Tesla.

It has appointed Kotak, Morgan Stanley, Axis, and Goldman Sachs (India) Securities to help with the issue. Fractal’s revenue from operations increased 25.9% to ₹2,765 crore in FY25 and recorded a profit of ₹220 crore against a loss of ₹54.7 crore in FY24.