SoftBank remains a stakeholder as Meesho’s $606 million IPO marks India’s inaugural major e-commerce public offering

Meesho Prepares for $606 Million Listing Amid Strong Investor Confidence

Indian e-commerce company Meesho, a competitor to Amazon and Flipkart (owned by Walmart), is gearing up for a major share sale valued at approximately $606 million. The offering will primarily consist of share sales by early investors, while major stakeholders such as SoftBank and Prosus are opting to retain their holdings. This move highlights the ongoing faith in India’s rapidly expanding online retail sector, even as technology investors worldwide have increasingly chosen to sell shares during public listings.

Founded a decade ago, Meesho intends to offer shares priced between ₹105 and ₹111 each, aiming to secure ₹42.50 billion (about $475 million) in new funding, with the remainder coming from secondary share sales. This would place the company’s valuation at around ₹501 billion (roughly $5.6 billion) following the listing. In its last private funding round in 2021, Meesho was valued at about $5 billion.

Pioneering Public Listing in Indian E-Commerce

Meesho is set to become the first major horizontal e-commerce platform in India to go public. Its main rival, Flipkart, is expected to pursue its own listing next year, while Amazon is reportedly considering spinning off its Indian operations for a potential future listing.

Shareholder Participation and Offer Details

Several early investors are reducing their stakes in the listing. According to the prospectus, Elevation Capital will sell just over 4% of its holdings, Peak XV Partners (formerly part of Sequoia Capital) will divest about 3%, and Y Combinator will reduce its stake by roughly 14%. Notably, larger investors such as SoftBank, Prosus, and Fidelity are not participating in the share sale.

The portion of shares offered for sale has been reduced by about 40% compared to the draft prospectus filed in October, now totaling 105.5 million shares worth ₹11.7 billion (approximately $131 million) at the upper end of the price range. However, co-founders Vidit Aatrey and Sanjeev Kumar have increased their combined share sales to 32 million shares, up from 23.5 million previously, compensating for decreased participation from other shareholders.

Business Model and Growth

Established in 2015, Meesho started as a social commerce platform targeting first-time online buyers via WhatsApp. It has since evolved into a comprehensive marketplace, catering to India’s cost-conscious consumers and small businesses with a low-cost approach. This strategy has intensified competition with larger players like Amazon and Flipkart. Headquartered in Bengaluru, Meesho primarily generates revenue through logistics, advertising, and other services, while charging commissions only on products sold through its Meesho Mall channel.

Financial Performance and User Base

For the six months ending September 30, Meesho reported operating revenue of ₹55.78 billion (about $624 million), up from ₹43.11 billion (around $482 million) during the same period the previous year. The company’s net merchandise value grew by 44% year-over-year to ₹191.94 billion (approximately $2.15 billion). However, losses also increased, with a restated pre-tax loss of ₹4.33 billion (about $48.4 million) for the September 2025 half-year, compared to ₹0.24 billion (roughly $2.7 million) a year earlier.

Over the past year, Meesho has served 234.2 million unique buyers—users who made at least one purchase on the platform. During the same period, 706,471 sellers received at least one order, highlighting the platform’s extensive reach.

Leveraging Content Creators and Market Positioning

Meesho also relies on a vast network of over 50,000 active content creators, each of whom has generated at least one order through their content in the past year, helping drive product discovery and engagement.

“For many Indians, Meesho is their first experience with online shopping. Over the coming decade, we expect these users to increase both the frequency and variety of their purchases on the platform,” said Mohit Bhatnagar, managing director at Peak XV Partners. “This long-term belief is why we are holding onto as much of our stake as possible.”

Peak XV Partners, which first invested in Meesho in 2018 and currently owns about 13% across its funds, plans to sell approximately 17.38 million shares in the share sale.

Meesho positions itself as a value-oriented marketplace, distinguishing itself from convenience-focused competitors like Amazon and Flipkart. The company draws comparisons to other value-driven platforms such as Pinduoduo in China, Shopee in Southeast Asia, and Mercado Libre in Latin America.

“In the value-focused segment, the goal is to serve the mass market by offering a wide range of affordable products in a marketplace model that remains asset-light,” explained co-founder Vidit Aatrey at a recent press conference. “Customers return because they find greater selection and attractive prices.”

Listing Impact and Timeline

According to CFO Dhiresh Bansal, the listing is expected to enhance Meesho’s ability to attract top talent and reinforce trust among stakeholders. Going public will strengthen the company’s brand, making it more appealing to job seekers—including those from major tech firms—and will have a positive impact on customers, sellers, and logistics partners by demonstrating strong governance.

The shares will open for public subscription on December 3, with the anchor book available on December 2. Of the total offering, 75% is allocated to qualified institutional buyers, 10% to retail investors, and 15% to non-institutional investors.

SoftBank declined to comment on the share sale.