India’s largest retail stock trading platform Groww is eyeing an initial public offering (IPO) this year.
According to sources familiar with the matter, one of the leading Indian fintech firms, Groww, is discussing a potential IPO with investment banks.
Reportedly, the Bangalore-based trading platform may go forward with the listing within the next 10 to 12 months. Groww is expected to raise about $700 million, targeting a valuation between $6 billion and $8 billion. This anticipated figure is more than double the firm’s latest $3 billion valuation recorded in October 2021.
Last May, Groww relocated its parent entity to India from the U.S. as part of the IPO preparation. Although the company reported a net loss of Rs 805 crore in FY24 due to the tax payout for shifting base, relocating to India allows Groww to list on Indian stock exchanges, such as the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) or the National Stock Exchange (NSE). This ensures access to Indian retail and institutional investors and illustrates Groww’s readiness to meet regulatory, financial, and operational expectations for a successful IPO in its home market.
The company currently is the largest broker and the biggest mutual fund (MF) distributor in India. If the plan succeeds, Groww might also become the country’s first digital trading platform to go public.
As of December 2024, Groww reported 13.2 million active users, significantly surpassing its biggest local competitor, Zerodha, with 8.1 million customers on board. Besides, the trading platform has been adding between 325,000 to 550,000 new users monthly, more than double its competitors’ user base growth rate.
The fintech’s growth aligns with the general market situation. There’s been a surge in IPOs among Indian tech companies lately, with 13 startups going public in 2024, including the $1.35 billion IPO of food delivery platform Swiggy. Besides, in 2024, Indian startups saw the aggregate funding amount grow by 20%, although the number of funding rounds declined by 32% compared to the previous year, showing investors’ appetite for larger investments in more stable firms. The total market capitalisation of the Indian market has risen to $5.3 trillion, with daily trading volumes increasing to $15 billion.
Projections indicate that over 20 Indian startups may go public in 2025. One of them may be the grocery delivery startup Zepto, which has recently incorporated a new marketplace entity to streamline its business and received NCLT approval to shift its domicile back to India in preparation for the upcoming IPO launch.
Pine Labs, the Asian digital payment provider backed by Peak XV Partners and Mastercard Inc., is also considering raising about $1 billion in investment funds during an initial public offering (IPO) of shares in India, targetting a revised valuation of over $6 billion. However, this IPO might reportedly take longer, with the potential listing expected in early 2026.
