Missed Zomato IPO? Here's a list of other unicorns all set to go public

It is raining IPOs. India’s first billion-dollar tech startup to go public got off to a flying start today. Zomato has generated a seldom-seen frenzy among the local investment community. The stock made a stellar debut on the bourses, opening at Rs 116 on the NSE, a 52.6% premium to its offer price of Rs 76. It closed the day at Rs 126 which translates to an opening-day pop of 66%. Not only that, Zomato’s market capitalization on Day 1 has surged to Rs 1 lakh crore. This has even made it bigger than IOC and BPCL, in fact, 11 Nifty companies in terms of market capitalisation.

Zomato paves the way

While Indian stock markets have been trading near all-time highs, Zomato’s listing was a big test of investor appetite for loss-making tech startups. Zomato’s first-day performance will now serve as a barometer for India’s budding tech scene of unprofitable unicorns.

The success of the IPO had already paved the way for more Indian unicorns to go public.

Unicorns make a beeline to go public

Paytm 

The Paytm IPO is expected to be next in line. Just two days after Zomato launched its IPO last week, digital payments firm Paytm filed for India’s biggest tech IPO on record. It is planning to raise up to $2.22 billion in an initial public offering, according to a draft prospectus.

Policybazaar 

Online insurance marketplace Policybazaar’s parent company PB Fintech has converted itself to a public limited entity and is planning to raise Rs 6,500 crore via an initial public offering (IPO), the company’s regulatory filings have revealed. PolicyBazaar, an online platform for users to purchase insurance policies, is one of the subsidiaries of PB Fintech.

Nykaa

Recent news reports also suggest that cosmetics e-tailer Nykaa is looking at a stock exchange listing by the end of this year or early 2022 at a valuation of over $3 billion. Nykaa, which was founded eight years ago, will be the first by an online beauty marketplace in India to go public. Nykaa, founded by former investment banker Falguni Nayar, is likely to keep the size of the public offering unchanged at between $500 million and $700 million as per news reports.

Urban Company

Urban Company, the on-demand home services provider that closed a $255 million funding round last month, is hopping on to the IPO bandwagon. The company, formerly known as UrbanClap, plans to go public in the next 18-24 months and has started work internally to prepare for the process

Delhivery

New-age logistics and supply chain startup Delhivery also has plans to go public in India anytime between December this year and March 2022.

“The company is still working out details of the issue, including its size. However, given that we already have substantial cash on our balance sheet, we expect it to be a primary issue in the $400-500 million range”, the company’s co-founder and chief executive Sahil Barua had earlier last month told media.

Mobikwik

Mobikwik is also set to take the IPO route although the digital payment company is not a unicorn in the conventional sense of the word, with its valuation placed at $70 million. The digital payments firm backed by Sequoia Capital and Bajaj Finance has filed for an initial public offering (IPO) worth up to Rs 1,900 crore. The company plans to raise Rs 1,500 crore through a primary issue and the rest Rs 400 crore through a secondary issue to provide a partial exit to a few existing stakeholders.

Flipkart and Ola are the other Indian unicorns that are likely to tap the primary markets for funds in this calendar year.