IPO Launch and Valuation Details
Meesho is preparing a roughly $606 million initial public offering that features limited sell-downs from early investors and no sales from major backers such as SoftBank and Prosus. The listing comes as global tech shareholders have been cashing out at IPOs, and positions Meesho as the first major horizontal e-commerce platform in India to go public. The ten-year-old company plans to price its shares at ₹105–111 each, raising ₹42.50 billion (about $475 million) in fresh capital, with the remainder coming from secondary sales. The post-issue valuation is projected at about ₹501 billion (around $5.60 billion). Meesho was last valued at roughly $5 billion in private markets in 2021.
Shareholder Participation and Offer Changes
Some early shareholders are selling part of their holdings. Elevation Capital is divesting just over 4%, Peak XV Partners about 3%, and Y Combinator roughly 14%, according to the prospectus. SoftBank, Prosus, and Fidelity are holding their stakes. The offer-for-sale portion has been reduced by about 40% from the draft prospectus filed in October to 105.5 million shares, valued at ₹11.7 billion (around $131 million) at the top of the price band. Co-founders Vidit Aatrey and Sanjeev Kumar are selling more shares than initially planned, raising their combined offer to 32 million shares from about 23.5 million.
Business Model and Market Positioning
Founded in 2015, Meesho began as a social commerce platform focused on first-time online shoppers via WhatsApp before evolving into a marketplace. Its commission-light model centres on logistics fees, advertising, and additional services, with commissions charged only on goods sold through Meesho Mall. The company positions itself as a value-focused marketplace serving price-sensitive consumers and small merchants, a strategy that has put pressure on rivals Amazon and Flipkart. Meesho compares its approach to platforms such as Pinduoduo in China, Shopee in Southeast Asia, and Mercado Libre in Latin America.
Financial Performance and User Metrics
For the six months ended September 30, Meesho reported revenue from operations of ₹55.78 billion (about $624.0 million), up from ₹43.11 billion (around $482.0 million) a year earlier. Net merchandise value increased 44% year-over-year to ₹191.94 billion (roughly $2.15 billion). Losses widened, with a restated loss before tax of ₹4.33 billion (around $48.4 million) for the September 2025 half-year compared with ₹0.24 billion (about $2.7 million) a year earlier. Over the past 12 months, Meesho recorded 234.20 million transacting users and 706,471 annual transacting sellers. The company also reported more than 50,000 active creators who drove at least one placed order through their content during the year.
Investor Commentary and Strategic Rationale
Peak XV Partners managing director Mohit Bhatnagar told TechCrunch that many Indian consumers are experiencing e-commerce for the first time on Meesho and may increase their purchasing frequency over time. Peak XV first invested in 2018 during its Sequoia Capital India period and holds roughly 13% across two vehicles. It is selling around 17.38 million shares in the IPO.
Aatrey told reporters that Meesho’s model appeals to mass-market consumers seeking wide selection and affordability in an asset-light structure. CFO Dhiresh Bansal said the IPO is expected to strengthen talent acquisition and reinforce confidence among consumers, sellers, and logistics partners by bolstering the company’s governance profile.
IPO Schedule and Allocation Structure
The public offering will open on December 3, with the anchor book set for December 2. About 75% of the offer is allocated to qualified institutional buyers, 10% to retail investors, and 15% to non-institutional investors.
Featured image credits: Wikimedia Commons
For more stories like it, click the +Follow button at the top of this page to follow us.