Profit-focused startups power India's strong IPO revival march in 2025

Venture-backed firms raised $4.9 billion in 2025, reflecting shift from cash-burn model to financial discipline

India’s long-stalled technology initial public offering (IPO) market continued the strong revival march in 2025, as venture-backed companies demonstrated that the path to public markets now runs through profitability rather than growth at any cost.

 

Eighteen new-age technology firms went public during the year, a near triple increase from the five firms that debuted in 2023 and 38 per cent more than 2024’s tally of 13.

 

Together, they raised ₹ 41,283 crore ($4.9 billion), with companies including e-commerce platform Meesho, electric-vehicle maker Ather Energy and eyewear retailer Lenskart tapping buoyant investor demand.

 

The revival march reflects a fundamental strategic shift among founders and their backers following the funding frenzy of 2021-2022.

 

Companies that once prioritised user acquisition and market share above all else have retooled operations around unit economics, leaner cost structures and clear paths to profitability – attributes that public-market investors increasingly demand.

 

“Founders are focusing on fixing their unit economics, adopting leaner operations, cutting cash burn, and establishing clear pathways to profitability,” said Neha Singh, co-founder of research firm Tracxn.

 

“This operational discipline has prepared them for public markets where investors prioritise stable growth and financial discipline over scale at all costs approach,” she said.

 

Gopal Jain, managing director and chief executive at Gaja Capital, said that after the 2022-23 correction, companies were forced to recalibrate growth, cut discretionary burn, and demonstrate contribution margin discipline.

 

By 2024–25, many scaled startups were either Ebitda-positive or on a clear, time-bound path to profitability.

 

Jain said that between January 2024 and December 2025, there were 67 PE or VC-backed IPOs, of which roughly 80 per cent reported positive Ebitda (Earnings before profit, tax, depreciation and amortisation) with growth at the time of listing.

 

“This improvement was not cosmetic; it was driven by lower customer acquisition costs, better pricing power, and operating leverage,” said Jain.

 

He said governance and disclosure standards improved significantly.

 

Companies approaching IPO in 2025 had already institutionalised boards, audit discipline, and internal controls, often under the scrutiny of late-stage private equity investors preparing for public markets. This reduced execution risk for public investors and narrowed the credibility gap that had affected earlier cohorts.

 

Abhimanyu Bhattacharya, partner at law firm Khaitan & Co, said that after the first wave of tech listings, investors demanded profitable or near-profitable models, cleaner unit economics and far more granular key performance indicator (KPI) disclosures.

 

Securities and exchange board of India’s (SEBI) tighter regime on KPI and ongoing disclosure standards reinforced that discipline.

 

At the same time, Bhattacharya said India settled into a structural IPO run-rate that gave quality startups confidence that there is deep, repeat capital available onshore, rather than a one-off window.

 

E-commerce firm Meesho exemplified the shift. The company raised $604 million in its IPO and made a strong market debut in December, with shares jumping roughly 46 per cent on listing.

 

Urban Company, the home services platform, raised ₹1,900 crore in September with bids 104 times the offer size. The Gurugram-based company, which operates across 47 Indian cities, turned profitable in 2024-25, reporting ₹240 crore net profit compared with a ₹93 crore loss the previous year.

 

Nithin Kaimal, partner and chief operating officer, Bessemer Venture Partners India, said that listed Indian companies are now significantly owned by retail and domestic institutional investors and this bodes well for long term stability of the markets.

 

“This is a healthy evolution that will lead to many more PE and VC-backed companies listing in the public markets,” he said.

 

Market conditions also mattered.

 

Strong domestic flows into Indian equities, particularly mid- and small-caps, created depth and risk appetite that absorbed new-age issuers without excessive valuation compression.

 

Reflecting this, Jain of Gaja Capital said approximately 57 per cent of PE or VC-backed IPOs over this period traded above their offer price, indicating selective but supportive public-market reception.

 

“The improvement in business metrics bodes well and, in my view, is durable. But pockets of froth remain, especially around smaller, momentum-driven issues, where post-listing corrections have already indicated that markets will test projections,” said Bhattacharya of Khaitan & Co.

 

Not every marquee listing lived up to pre-IPO expectations.

 

Lenskart, one of India’s most closely watched consumer-tech offerings, drew strong interest ahead of its listing but delivered a more restrained market debut than many investors had anticipated.

 

The stock’s early performance reflected heightened scrutiny of valuation and profitability, underscoring that public markets in 2025 were willing to reward scale and execution–but with greater discipline on price.

 

Lenskart’s much-anticipated ₹7,278 crore IPO, priced at ₹402 per share, got off to a subdued start in late 2025, opening at a modest discount of about 3 per cent around ₹390-₹395 and closing the session marginally higher at ₹403.3.

 

New Crop of IPOs

 

Jain of Gaja Capital said India today has approximately 25,000 unlisted PE or VC-backed companies, of which around 15,000 have been operating for more than seven years. Within this universe, roughly 10 per cent, or about 1,500 companies, have crossed the $10 million revenue mark with positive Ebitda. About one-third of these, or roughly 450–500 companies, are growing at rates exceeding 25 percent and can be thought of as IPO ready.

 

“From an IPO-readiness perspective, this suggests a sizeable but finite pool of companies that meet basic scale, profitability, and governance thresholds,” said Jain of Gaja Capital.

 

“At the current pace of roughly 30–35 PE or VC-backed IPOs per year, this represents a healthy, multi-year pipeline from private to public markets.”

 

A related structural shift is the growing trend of corporate flip-backs. Over the last five years, 11 companies have flipped back to India to position themselves for Indian IPOs, with five of these occurring in 2025 alone. “This trend reflects confidence in Indian public markets and is likely to continue,” said Jain.

 

Looking at current filings and deal pipelines, there are a handful of Indian startups today which are 'public-market ready'.

 

“We may see a second category of issuers – companies pushed towards listing by fund-life pressures and the search for liquidity. However, this cohort could face pricing pressures and post-listing volatility,” said Bhattacharya of Khaitan & Co.

 

“The pipeline is overweight consumer internet, fintech and asset-light platforms. Valuation corrections could occur in B2C models with weak cash flows and excessive customer acquisition spend. The public markets will favour quality of revenue not just top-line growth.”

 

Jain of Gaja Capital said only a minority of late-stage startups combine sufficient scale, predictable cash flows, and governance maturity to withstand public-market scrutiny without relying on favourable sentiment. These companies typically have diversified revenue streams, operating leverage, and experienced management teams.

 

“The lessons from 2025 are clear. Public markets reward predictability, transparency, and discipline far more than narratives. We advise companies to prepare for IPOs as if they will remain public for decades, not as an exit event,” said Jain.