Pine Labs To File DRHP For Up To $700 Mn IPO By June-End

Gearing up for its initial public offering (IPO) later this year, Peak XV-backed fintech unicorn Pine Labs reportedly plans to file its draft red herring prospectus (DRHP) with the Securities and Exchange Board of India by end of this month.

Sources told Economic Times that the payments solutions platform is looking to raise INR 5,000 Cr ($585 Mn) to INR 6,000 Cr ($700 Mn) via its IPO at a likely valuation of $4 Bn to $5 Bn. At the lower end of the spectrum, this represents a discount of 25% from $5 Bn at which the startup was pegged in 2022. 

The target is “an IPO towards the end of the year, depending on market conditions,” a source reportedly said. 

Inc42 has reached out to the company for a comment and the story will be updated upon receiving a response. 

Pine Labs’ CFO Quits

Ahead of its market debut, Pine Labs’ group chief financial officer (CFO) Marc Mathenz has reportedly tendered his resignation from the company. As per Moneycontrol, Mathenz cited personal reasons for his departure and will be leaving the fintech unicorn in coming weeks.

An alumni of London Business School, Mathenz took over as the company’s group CFO in 2021 after Sameer Maheshwary was moved internally to the role of senior vice-president of capital markets. Mathenz was tasked with the responsibility of overseeing and scaling Pine Labs’ international business, especially across Asia Pacific. 

While Mathenz’s successor has not been announced so far, SVP Maheshwary reportedly “pretty much led all of the IPO work”. 

Pine Labs did not respond to Inc42’s queries on the story.

Founded in 1998 by Lokvir Kapoor, Rajul Garg and Tarun Upadhyay, Pine Labs is a payment solutions provider that offers point of sales (PoS) devices and other payment solutions to businesses. It also helps businesses deploy rewards and cashback solutions.

The fintech startup has so far raised nearly $1.6 Bn in funding to date and is backed by the likes of Actis Capital, Temasek, PayPal, Mastercard, among others. 

On the financial front, Pine Labs’ net loss jumped 233% to INR 187.2 Cr in FY24 from INR 56.1 Cr in the year ago period. Meanwhile, operating revenue rose a mere 2.2% to INR 1,309.6 Cr during the fiscal under review from INR 1,280.5 Cr in FY23.

Pine Labs On IPO Path

The company kicked off its IPO plans in June last year as it began moving its domicile back to India. At the time, it was reported that the company was eyeing a $1 Bn public listing in the first half of fiscal year 2025-26 (FY26) at a valuation of over $6 Bn.

In September 2024, the fintech major reportedly selected Axis Capital, Morgan Stanley, Citigroup, JP Morgan and Jefferies as bankers to helm its IPO. Earlier this year in March, CEO Amrish Rau said that the company would launch its IPO in the second half of 2025. 

Gearing up for its public listing, the company converted into a public entity as shareholders last month approved a proposal to change the name of the company to ‘Pine Labs Limited’ from ‘Pine Labs Private Limited’. In its filings, the fintech platform also confirmed that it was evaluating options for raising additional capital, including through an IPO. 

Subsequently, Pine Labs also appointed Amrita Gangotra and Smita Chandramani Kumar as independent directors on its board, effective March 24, 2025. 

With this, the fintech unicorn has joined the growing band of Indian startups looking to get listed on the exchanges. Just a day ago, it was reported that ecommerce major Meesho was looking to file its DRHP with SEBI in a few weeks via the confidential pre-filing route. 

Earlier this month, D2C furniture and mattress startup Wakefit converted into a public company in preparation for its INR 1,500-2,000 Cr IPO. Omnichannel eyewear giant Lenskart also converted into a public entity amid reports that it had initiated talks with bankers for a $750 Mn to $1 Bn IPO at a valuation of $7-8 Bn. 

Last month, invest tech major Groww also filed its DRHP with the SEBI via the confidential route to raise between $700 Mn and $1 Bn from the listing.