Groww, India’s largest retail stockbroker, is preparing to file for an IPO in 10 to 12 months, seeking a valuation between $6 billion and $8 billion, sources familiar with the matter told TechCrunch.
The Bengaluru-headquartered listing would be the first IPO by a digital trading platform in India. The target valuation is more than double the $3 billion it was last valued at in its October 2021 funding round.
Groww, which counts Peak XV, Tiger Global and Alkeon among its backers, has started talks with investment banks and will soon choose advisers for the IPO, the sources said. The startup, which also enables customers to invest in mutual funds and do UPI transactions, shifted its domicile to India from the US last year as part of preparations for the IPO.
Groww declined to comment.
The trading app has pulled ahead of competitors in India’s crowded retail investment market. It had 13.2 million active users in December, compared with 8.1 million users of nearest rival Zerodha, according to data from the National Stock Exchange. Groww is adding between 325,000 and 550,000 new users each month – more than double the rate of its competitors, per exchange.
India has emerged as a bright spot for tech listings globally, with seven tech startups set to go public in 2024. Food delivery platform Swiggy’s $1.35 billion IPO was the largest listing of technology in the world last year.
More than 20 Indian startups are planning IPOs in 2025, including business-to-business marketplace Zetwerk, managed workspace provider Table Space, Prosus-owned PayU and pharma platform PharmEasy.
Abhinav Bharti, JPMorgan’s head of equity capital markets for India, told TechCrunch in a recent interview that domestic capital growth and India’s policy continuity were among the factors behind the country’s IPO surge.
The collective market capitalization of listed companies in India doubled to $5.3 trillion in 2014 compared to 2019, while daily trading volume tripled to $15 billion.
“No other country globally offers you so much political certainty and policy continuity,” Bharti told TechCrunch. “You can argue against a policy decision, but you can’t argue against the fact that they’ve been consistent.”
