Unicommerce IPO: SoftBank, Snapdeal Cofounders Added As Promoters

SaaS startup Unicommerce Esolutions has added Starfish I Pte Ltd and Snapdeal cofounders Kunal Bahl and Rohit Kumar Bansal as its promoters in its IPO documents filed with the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI).

In an addendum filed with the markets regulator earlier this month, the startup said that the three will be tagged as promoters with effect from May 29.

Starfish is an investment holding company and is 100% owned by SoftBank. It did not hold any shares in Unicommerce as of May 29. SoftBank holds a stake in Unicommerce via SB Investments Holdings (UK) Ltd.

It is pertinent to note that Unicommerce, in its draft red herring prospectus (DRHP), filed in January this year, classified only AceVector Ltd (formerly Snapdeal) as a promoter.

Ahead of the new additions to the promoter list, SoftBank-owned Starfish also signed an indemnity agreement with AceVector, Bahl, and Bansal on May 17 to protect itself and its employees from any claims arising out of it being tagged a promoter of the startup, as per the addendum.

“In the event a Loss has arisen out of or on account of a Claim… against Starfish, its affiliates, its directors, agents, officers, representatives and employees (“Starfish Indemnified Persons”), in accordance with the terms of the Indemnity Agreement, among others, in connection with any Claims against the Starfish Indemnified Persons on account of Starfish being classified and named as a Promoter of our Company, the Responsible Promoters will be required to indemnify, defend and hold harmless Starfish Indemnified Persons… ” the addendum read.

The development was first reported by Moneycontrol.

Meanwhile, a Unicommerce spokesperson told Inc42, “AceVector, along with Bahl and Bansal, have been the operators of Unicommerce, whereas SoftBank has been a financial investor. Pursuant to all entities being classified as promoters of Unicommerce, the operating entities have agreed to indemnify the financial investor. The same has been recorded in the company’s filings with SEBI as well.” 

Unicommerce was founded by three classmates at IIT Delhi – Ankit Pruthi, Karun Singla and Vibhu Garg. It was later acquired by Snapdeal in 2015. Unicommerce provides a suite of SaaS products that it claims enables enterprises and small and medium businesses (SMBs) to efficiently manage their entire journey of post-purchase ecommerce operations. 

Its suite also includes a warehouse and inventory management system (WMS), a multi-channel order management system (OMS), an omnichannel retail management system (Omni-RMS), a seller management panel for marketplaces (Uniware), post-order services for logistics tracking and courier allocation (UniShip), and payment reconciliation (UniReco).

As per the startup’s DRHP, its IPO will comprise only of offer for sale (OFS) and there would be no fresh issue. of shares.

While SB Investment Holdings (UK) is looking to sell up to 1.6 Cr shares in the IPO, AceVector is looking to offload up to 1.14 Cr shares. B2 Partners intends to sell up to 22 Lakh shares via the OFS route. 

Unicommerce reported a net profit of INR 6.3 Cr in H1 FY24. In FY23, the startup’s net profit increased by 8% to INR 6.4 Cr from INR 6 Cr in the previous fiscal year. 

Operating revenue stood at INR 51 Cr in H1 FY24. In FY23, the operating revenue grew 52% to INR 90 Cr from INR 59 Cr in FY22.