Pine Labs On D-Street, BharatAgri Shuts Shop & More

Pine Labs On D-Street

Pine Labs is all set to list on D-Street today. However, its INR 3,900 Cr public issue delivered vastly divergent outcomes – some investors celebrated big returns while others absorbed losses on bets made during peak valuation years. How did the IPO create such polarised results?

The IPO Mechanics: Pine Labs’ public issue comprised a fresh issue of INR 2,080 Cr and an OFS of 8.23 Cr shares. At the upper end of its INR 210-221 price band, the listing values the fintech giant at a nifty INR 25,377 Cr.

A Tale Of Two Investors: For early backers, Pine Labs’ IPO has emerged as a jackpot. Peak XV Partners is set to rake in INR 508 Cr at a staggering 39.5X return, adding to its recent 52X win with Groww. Actis, Temasek, and Madison India are similarly locking in multi-fold gains. The party ends there. 

Lightspeed is offloading a portion of its stake at a painful 41% loss, while BlackRock is barely scraping a 1.2X return. These investors entered during peak euphoria, buying at valuations the public market simply refused to validate.

Profitability Question: Pine Labs’ financials are equally complex. While the fintech startup managed to slash its losses in FY25, it remained in the red despite growing revenues. Even its first quarterly profit in Q1 FY26 was aided by a one-time tax credit. Critics argue that its steep valuation leaves little room for error, given these fundamentals.

Nevertheless, it counts lakhs of merchants, a growing top line, a global footprint and bigger international ambitions in its kitty to help it sail through the IPO mania. 

But as Pine Labs steps into public scrutiny, will these tailwinds be enough to turn the tide in its favour, or will the shadow of VC losses dampen the post-listing sentiment? Let’s find out… 

From The Editor’s Desk

🚫 BharatAgri Shuts Shop

• The agritech startup has ceased operations after it failed to raise fresh funding. High overhead costs, mounting losses and overestimation of the total addressable market also led to its demise.
• Founded in 2017, BharatAgri initially provided AI-powered advisory to boost farmer productivity, but later expanded into ecommerce. It raised over $14 Mn in total funding, but struggled to scale despite achieving positive unit economics.
• BharatAgri joins a growing list of Indian agritech startups like BeepKart, Otipy, and Bllip that folded in 2025, highlighting investor scepticism around unit economics and scaling in the sector.

🎓 PhysicsWallah’s IPO Test

• The edtech unicorn’s public issue closed with an oversubscription of 1.81X as investors bid for 33 Cr shares as against 18 Cr on offer. The employee category topped with a 3.49X subscription, followed by QIBs (2.7X) and NIIs (0.48X).
• PW’s IPO comprised a fresh issue of INR 3,100 Cr and an OFS portion of INR 380 Cr, targeting a valuation of INR 31,169 Cr. The stock will list on the exchanges on November 18.
• Incorporated as a YouTube channel, PW has since evolved into an edtech unicorn, offering a gamut of test preparation courses. While its strong brand pull and offline expansion have carved a niche in the edtech arena, losses continue to drag it down. 

📈 Zappfresh’s Profits Soar In H1

• The D2C meat delivery startup’s net profit nearly tripled YoY to INR 7 Cr in H1 FY26 on the back of operating revenue surging 43% YoY to INR 95.6 Cr and EBITDA almost tripling YoY to INR 14.9 Cr.
• Zappfresh also attributed the improvement in its balance sheet to sustained consumer demand, strengthening of its supply chain and deepening partnership with HORECA clients. 
• Along with its financials, Zappfresh also appointed former ICICI Bank executive Akhil Gupta as its new chief strategy officer. Founded in 2015, Zappfresh debuted on the BSE SME platform last month. Since listing, the stock has rallied more than 40%.

💰 Capillary’s INR 394 Cr Anchor Round

• Ahead of the commencement of its public issue today, the SaaS major raised INR 393.9 Cr from anchor investors. About 68% of the total anchor round was picked up by nine domestic mutual funds via 13 schemes. 
• Capillary Technologies’ IPO comprises a fresh issue of shares worth INR 345 Cr and an OFS portion of 92.29 Lakh shares. With a price band of INR 549-577 per share, the company is targeting a valuation of INR 4,576 Cr at the upper end.
• Founded in 2008, Capillary Technologies offers AI-driven solutions for customer engagement and loyalty management. On the financial front, Capillary made a profit of INR 13.3 Cr in FY25 against a top line of INR 598.3 Cr. 

🏗️ Attentive.ai Nets $30.5 Mn 

• The SaaS-led remote property intelligence startup has raised nearly INR 270 Cr in its Series B round led by Insight Partners to bolster its AI stack and expand into new markets.
• Founded in 2017, Attentive.ai offers AI-powered takeoff and bidding solutions, which automate manual measurements for construction and field services. Its flagship product, Beam AI, claims to serve over 1,000 construction firms and 3,500 active users.
• Focussed primarily on small businesses in the US, the startup is vying for a piece of the broader global construction automation space, which is projected to become a $24 Bn opportunity by 2030.

Inc42 Markets 

Inc42 Startup Spotlight

Can CoreShield Power The Future Of India’s Defence Stack?

India’s growing geopolitical tensions and rising threats to critical infrastructure have made real-time, coordinated security intelligence more critical than ever. However, most defence systems work in silos, fragmenting intelligence and slowing emergency responses. Trying to solve this problem is CoreShield.

AI Meets Defence: Founded in 2023, CoreShield Technologies fights fragmentation with its AI-driven platforms. It integrates real-time video and acoustic analytics with AI decision orchestration and secure data-flow monitoring, transforming disjointed signals into actionable intelligence in seconds.

Building India’s Indigenous Shield: Operating at the intersection of defence tech and IoT security, CoreShield is aiming high. Its indigenous platforms serve both military and civilian needs, enhancing situational awareness and enabling faster, data-driven threat responses. It aims to carve a niche in the growing defence tech ecosystem, projected to become a $19 Bn opportunity by 2030.

Backed by India’s defence ministry itself, can CoreShield power the future of the country’s AI-assisted defence systems?

Infographic Of The Day

From Flipkart to Swiggy, Accel has backed some of India’s most iconic startup success stories.⁣ Let’s take a look at the 38 unicorns and soonicorns that make up the Accel Mafia.