Groww Rolls The IPO Dice… In Secret

Groww’s confidential IPO filing has certainly grabbed the attention of the startup ecosystem this week, particularly after its eye-catching acquisition of Fisdom earlier in the month.

Now, one of the handful of profitable new-age tech companies in India (as of FY24, at least) is heading to the bourses and it’s the first investment tech startup to make a public listing bid. As such, there’s a whole lot of expectation that Groww might be the next big IPO to emerge out of India’s startup story.

So far Groww’s story has been defined by profitability and rapid growth, the next chapter — particularly the diversification push — might throw up a challenge or two that’s perhaps more daunting than what Groww’s founders and management have dealt with thus far.

Diversification Is The Name Of The Game 

The pandemic and 2020’s market conditions marked a major turning point for both Groww and the Indian equities market. It is said to be the era when consumers, sitting idle at home, became more aware of ways of investing and growing their income.

Having started as a mutual fund platform and then introducing stock trading just a few months into 2020, Groww expanded into three key areas.

• The first one was the asset management company licence it acquired through Indiabulls
• The second was the support for exchange-traded funds (ETFs), futures and options (F&O) and IPO investments
• The third is wealth management, involving family offices and high net-worth individuals (HNIs), where it has launched W by Groww

Another strategic decision was to focus on personal loans and loans against mutual funds. This was seen as a way to allow creditworthy individuals to get loans not just for personal expenses but also investing.

Groww turned profitable way back in FY21 and was valued at $3 Bn in October 2021, and today it is valued at $7 Bn after multiple years of profitability. Today, the company claims more than 1.5 Cr users across 900+ cities.

By FY24, it had upstaged Zerodha to become the app with the most number of active investors and had a big share in the mutual funds market as well. Revenue scaled to INR 3,145 Cr from INR 1,435 Cr in FY23, reflecting a 119% growth. The EBITDA also improved to INR 535 Cr, though it reported a net loss as a result of the redomiciling.

It’s very likely that in FY25, Groww might have to cope with some losses temporarily after paying INR 1,300 Cr in taxes following its decision to redomicile to India. The company’s FY25 financials are yet to be disclosed.

 

What’s Next From The House Of Groww?

 

Having touched 25% market share among new investors, Groww has turned on the pipe and is looking to launch new products, even as the likes of Zerodha, Angel One, Upstox, Paytm Money, PhonePe-backed Share.Market, Lemonn, Dhan and others are looking to gain an edge over Groww.

 

Its IPO is expected to hit the market in 2026, after the company filed its pre-IPO papers confidentially. Reports suggest the company aims to raise approximately $700 Mn at a $6-8 Bn valuation.

In the past, Groww insiders have pointed out that insurance is a key focus area for the company in addition to investments, as there is a lot of overlap in terms of consumer education and tackling misselling.

Its long-term strategy is built around the AMC business. As of March 31, 2025, the mutual fund industry’s assets under management totalled INR 65.7 Lakh Cr.

Currently, Groww is still relatively new to active mutual fund distribution and continues to focus primarily on its passive mutual fund business, an area where it has developed substantial expertise. The company is expected to take a gradual, cautious approach as it builds its asset management arm, according to those in the know.

Why The Confidential Filing? 

One reason for why Groww has chosen to go for a confidential filing could be because its FY25 numbers would not make for the best reading just yet. Having a longer window to list after the SEBI approval allows Groww to disclose the financials at its preferred time and control the narrative.

The other factor, according to those we spoke to, is that the company has to deal with scrutiny from competition, some of whom are also preparing for an IPO. The likes of PhonePe and even other listed companies like Paytm and MobiKwik, while smaller than Groww in the investment tech space, are investing heavily in the vertical.

It’s not just Groww. Even Shiprocket and PhysicsWallah are going the confidential route for their IPOs.

“The confidential pre-filing route from SEBI feels like a long-overdue evolution. I have sat with enough founders to know how much pressure early public scrutiny can create, especially when you are still aligning internal strategy, team, and market narrative,” says Sayan Ghosh, founder of Ortella Global Capital.

Pranav Pai, founding partner of 3one4 Capital, added that the confidential listing route is a tactical option as it allows founders to go to market on their own terms and avoid disruption in the run up to the listing. “From the VC perspective, we may see specific types of companies opting for this path. In particular, for disruptive tech and IP-based companies or companies in highly competitive sectors, where such early public disclosure may have to be avoided,” he says, adding that this is more flexible for companies as they can time the market better.

Regardless of why Groww is keeping its cards close to its chest right now, when it comes time to list, there will be plenty of regulatory and competition scrutiny. The confidential route only protects companies till a certain point, after which the market does come into play.

Eventually, retail investors are not likely to pay attention to whether Groww went the confidential route or not. What will matter is whether Groww can deliver to those who back its IPO.

There’s a feeling among retail investors that new-age companies are largely looking at IPOs to provide VCs and early investors with an exit path, but the value for retail investors only emerges many quarters later. There are exceptions such as Zomato or Zaggle or even Awfis, which have seen a big gain since listing, but these are like we said exceptions.

Most recently, the lukewarm subscription for Ather Energy this year and a relatively underwhelming listing could indicate some wariness among public markets investors for new-age tech stocks during IPOs.

The big value erosion for Paytm, Ola Electric are other examples of even so-called market leaders fizzling out when the public markets test arrived. Even Swiggy is yet to get back to its listing price.

It would be too early to say anything about Groww’s fate on Dalal Street, but it’s also a company which has invested so much time and effort in educating masses about investments and IPOs. Would it be a surprise if these investors don’t quite buy the Groww story?

---

Ola Electric’s Big Crash

After Ola Electric’s poor Q4 showing, when revenue fell and losses doubled, the Bhavish Aggarwal-led company’s stock market performance was equally dismal.

Ola Electric came dangerously close to hitting its all-time low a day after its results, when its share price fell by more than 10%, and even though the week-on-week performance was not as bad, there are expectations of a further erosion over the next month.

A lot will depend on the company’s market share and sales numbers for May 2025. If Ola Electric continues to slip in market share against the likes of Ather Energy and other larger players, there could be more pain in store.

 

Markets Watch: New Issues, Financials & More 

• Big Losses In Q4: Retail giant FirstCry, business intelligence platform Tracxn and entertainment company Nazara all saw their losses surge in the last quarter of the previous fiscal year (Q4 FY25), with FirstCry seeing the biggest dip in comparison to FY24
• Growing Profits: On the other hand, listed travel companies RateGain, Yatra and EaseMyTrip all improved their profitability, with EMT turning around its losses from the previous year
• PayU Preps For IPO: RBI’s former deputy governor Subhash Mundra and DevRey’s founder and president Manoj Kumar Agarwal will join PayU’s board in the run up to the company’s IPO