Groww Secretly Files for IPO with SEBI, Eyes Market Debut

The first official step towards a stock market debut has been taken by wealthtech unicorn Groww, which has confidentially registered for an IPO through the Securities and Exchange Board of India's pre-filing method.

 Groww's parent company, Billionbrains Garage Ventures Limited, stated in a public notice issued on May 26 that the DRHP was filed in accordance with Chapter IA of the SEBI ICDR Regulations, which permits the business to request SEBI's feedback without immediately making its IPO materials available to the public.

On May 15, a media outlet exclusively revealed that Groww was raising $150 million from Singapore-based GIC as part of a $250–300 million pre-IPO round and was scheduled to submit a confidential application for an IPO with SEBI in two weeks. Groww's post-money valuation in the round was $7 billion, according to the report.

Groww will submit an updated DRHP, which will be publicly available and contain information on the company's financial performance up to the most recent quarter, after Sebi approves the IPO, which could take up to two months.

Details of the IPO

According to reports, Groww is anticipated to adopt a cautious IPO valuation of $7-8 billion, taking into account the volatility and emotion of the market.

One of the most widely watched public offerings in India's fintech sector this year, the valuation suggests that an IPO size of between $700–920 million might be implied by a standard 10-15% share dilution. Groww intends to list its equity shares on the mainboards of the NSE and BSE, with a face value of INR 2 apiece.

Information has not yet been made public, including the offer-for-sale breakdown, fresh issue component, and overall issue size.

Financial Outlook and Operations of Groww

The fintech company provides mutual funds and other financial products and competes with Upstox and Zerodha in online discount broking. When it went through its Series E round in 2021, its last valuation was $3 billion.

 Ribbit Capital, Tiger Global, and Peak XV Partners are among its main sponsors. On a consolidated basis, the stockbroking company with the biggest active investor base has more than doubled its FY24 revenue to INR 3,145 crore.

 Although the company's FY25 financials are not yet available to the public, they will probably be included in the revised DRHP. In the year that ended in March 2024, its consolidated operational profit increased by 17% to INR 535 crore, up from INR 458 crore the previous year.

For FY23, its total revenue was INR 1,435 crore. Groww reported a combined net loss of INR 805 crore as a result of the Rs 1,340 crore one-time domicile tax. During the most recent fiscal year, Groww relocated its registered office from Delaware, USA, to Bengaluru.