Travel Platform ixigo’s INR 1,600 Cr IPO Set To Take Off With SEBI Approval

The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) has approved the INR 1,600 Cr initial public offering (IPO) of Le Travenues Technology, which operates travel platform ixigo.

The IPO will consist of an issue of fresh shares worth INR 750 Cr and an offer for sale (OFS) by existing investors amounting to INR 850 Cr. The issue is expected to give an exit opportunity to early investors including Elevation Capital (earlier called SAIF Partners) and Indian smartphone manufacturer Micromax. 

According to an update on the SEBI website, the approval was given on December 16th, 2021.

ixigo is backed by Elevation Capital, Sequoia Capital India, Trifecta Capital, Fosun RZ Capital, and InfoEdge among others. In 2011, Elevation Capital and Nasdaq-listed MakeMyTrip invested $18.5 Mn in ixigo. Till date, it has raised $88 Mn in funding.

Inc42 had earlier reported that online travel aggregator MakeMyTrip scored an 8X return on its investment in ixigo recently. The Nasdaq-listed startup exited ixigo when it closed a pre-IPO funding round worth $53 Mn led by Singapore-based sovereign fund GIC along with participation from other investors.  

In October, Fosun International sold a large chunk of its stake to US-based Invesco’s Emerging Market Innovators Fund and its existing investor Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund GIC.

Fosun had invested close to $5 Mn in ixigo in 2017 and had 3.69% stake in the startup and sold 3.19% to Invesco and GIC. Sources aware of the deal informed Inc42 that Fosun received $30 Mn as return of investment after selling majority of its stake in ixigo to Invesco and GIC.

In August, Le Travenues Technology converted into a public company and later in the month filed its draft red herring prospectus (DRHP).

Utilisation Of Net Proceeds

According to its DRHP, ixigo will utilise INR 640 Cr for funding organic and inorganic growth initiatives. 

Besides, ixigo intends to use not more than 25% of the net proceeds from the fresh issue for general corporate purposes. 

The startup defines general corporate purposes as strategic expansion into new business lines such as budget hotels and travel packages, funding growth opportunities, strengthening marketing capabilities and brand building exercises, meeting ongoing general corporate contingencies, and any other purpose, as may be approved by its board.

ixigo’s Financials

According to the startup’s MCA filings, it posted a revenue from operation of INR 135.5 Cr in FY21, up 21.5% from INR 111.5 Cr in FY20. The platform’s total expenses narrowed to INR 135.6 Cr in FY 21 from INR 139.5 Cr in FY 20. ixigo posted a profit of INR 7.53 Cr in FY 21, compared to a loss of INR 26.6 Cr in FY 20, the filings showed. 

Launched in 2007 by Aloke Bajpai and Rajnish Kumar, ixigo aggregates and compares real-time travel information, prices, and the availability of flights, trains, buses, cabs, hotels, packages, and destinations. The startup operates two sets of apps—based on user-interest— ixigo Train app and ixigo Flight app.

New Age Companies Going Public

With the capital market regulator’s approval to go public, ixigo is well on its way to join the list of startups or new age companies to hit the public markets.

Since Zomato’s bumper market debut in July, several tech-backed startups have gone public including Nykaa, Paytm, Policybazaar, Fino Payments Bank and RateGain.

ixigo’s competitor EaseMyTrip listed on the domestic stock exchanges in March 2021 with a premium after its IPO was subscribed nearly 160 times.

Digital mapping startup MapmyIndia is expected to list on the exchanges on Tuesday, December 21.

Hospitality unicorn OYO, logistics major Delhivery, epharma unicorn Pharmeasy, are a few more names in the new age startups category which are awaiting SEBI’s nod to their draft prospectus for initial public offerings.