According to TechCrunch, Meesho is launching a roughly $606 million IPO that positions it as India’s first major horizontal e-commerce platform to go public. The Bengaluru-based startup plans to price shares at ₹105-111 each, raising ₹42.50 billion ($475 million) in fresh capital and hitting a post-issue valuation of about $5.60 billion. For the six months ended September 30, Meesho reported revenue of ₹55.78 billion ($624 million) but saw losses widen to ₹4.33 billion ($48.4 million) from just ₹0.24 billion a year earlier. The platform recorded 234.20 million transacting users over the past year and had 706,471 active sellers. Major backers SoftBank, Prosus, and Fidelity aren’t selling any shares, while early investors like Peak XV Partners and Elevation Capital are making partial exits.
The investor confidence play
Here’s what’s really interesting about this IPO: the big money isn’t running for the exits. SoftBank, Prosus, and Fidelity holding their entire stakes sends a powerful signal in today’s market where tech shareholders often cash out at listings. But look closer and you’ll see some early backers are trimming positions – Peak XV selling around 3%, Elevation offloading just over 4%, and Y Combinator cutting about 14% of its stake. The co-founders themselves are actually selling more than originally planned, stepping up to help make up for reduced participation from other shareholders. It’s a mixed bag, but overall the message seems to be: we believe in India‘s e-commerce story for the long haul.
How Meesho actually makes money
Meesho started as a social commerce platform targeting first-time online shoppers through WhatsApp before evolving into a full marketplace. Their secret sauce? A commission-light model that primarily earns from logistics fees, advertising, and other services rather than taking big cuts from sellers. They only charge commissions on products sold through their separate Meesho Mall channel. This low-cost approach has clearly resonated with India’s price-sensitive consumers – net merchandise value jumped 44% year-over-year to roughly $2.15 billion. They’re positioning themselves as the value-focused alternative to Amazon and Flipkart’s convenience-led approach, comparing themselves to Pinduoduo in China and Shopee in Southeast Asia.
Where this fits in India’s e-commerce war
Meesho going public now is basically the starting gun for India’s e-commerce IPO race. Flipkart is expected to pursue an IPO next year, and Amazon is reportedly exploring a potential spin-off of its India operations. What makes Meesho different is their focus on the mass market – CEO Vidit Aatrey says they’re appealing to consumers who want “access to more and more selection with the affordability value proposition.” They’ve also built a sprawling creator network with over 50,000 active content creators driving product discovery. The question is whether they can maintain growth while controlling those widening losses. Their prospectus shows they’re spending heavily to capture market share.
The road ahead for Meesho
The IPO opens for public subscription on December 3, with about 75% reserved for qualified institutional buyers. CFO Dhiresh Bansal told TechCrunch that going public should help attract talent and strengthen confidence across their ecosystem. And he’s probably right – a public listing does wonders for brand credibility with job candidates, especially those coming from big tech firms. But here’s the thing: they’re walking a tightrope between aggressive growth and profitability. Those widening losses suggest they’re prioritizing expansion over margins, which makes sense in a market as competitive as India’s e-commerce space. If they can maintain their current growth trajectory while gradually improving unit economics, this could be just the beginning of India’s e-commerce public market story.
