Groww IPO: India’s Largest Retail Brokerage Firm Aims for $9 Billion Valuation in Upcoming Listing
India’s leading retail brokerage firm, Groww, is poised to debut in the country’s public markets with a potential multi-billion-dollar Initial Public Offering (IPO). This listing, anticipated later this year, also marks a significant exit opportunity for global venture funds, particularly Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella and marquee investors such as Y Combinator, Ribbit Capital, and Tiger Global.
The investment firms are set to sell approximately 236 million shares, accounting for about 5.6% of Groww’s total equity base, according to draft IPO documents filed recently. This makes them the largest selling bloc, contributing almost 41% of the shares offered to the public.
Recently, Pine Labs, Razorpay, Meesho, Zepto, and Walmart-backed PhonePe, among others, have relocated their bases back to India. Notably, Flipkart, also backed by Walmart, announced plans to move its headquarters from Singapore to India earlier this year.
Last year, Groww became one of the first startups to return its headquarters to India from the U.S., incurring around $159 million in taxes as part of the transition. This move aligns with evolving local regulations and domestic stock listing requirements, while also tapping into the expanding retail investor base and growing appetite for IPOs in India.
While global investors plan to offload a substantial portion of their holdings in Groww, the founders—Lalit Keshre, Harsh Jain, Neeraj Singh, and Ishan Bansal—are only selling about 4 million shares, representing just 0.7% of the total offer for sale. This modest sale suggests that the founders are holding onto nearly all their equity, in contrast to the established investors who are utilizing the IPO as an exit strategy.
Groww aims to raise approximately ₹10.6 billion (approximately $121 million) in new funding from the IPO, alongside a secondary sale of 574 million shares by existing shareholders, which could be priced at ₹5–6 billion (roughly $568–$682 million). The IPO is expected to value the Bengaluru-based company at $9 billion.
In the fiscal year ending March 31, Groww reported a total income of ₹40.6 billion (about $462 million), marking a 45% year-on-year increase, with a profit after tax of ₹18.2 billion (roughly $208 million). The startup had posted a net loss of about ₹8 billion (around $92 million) in the previous year, primarily due to expenses related to its Delaware headquarters relocation.
As of June, Groww boasted approximately 37.4 million individual demat accounts, representing nearly 19% of India’s market, along with 12.6 million active clients on the National Stock Exchange, equating to a 26% share. The platform also registered around 17 million active systematic investment plans (SIPs) and 9 million unique mutual fund investors, making it the only investment app in India to surpass 100 million cumulative downloads.
The offering is being advised by JPMorgan Chase, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Citigroup, Axis Bank, and Motilal Oswal Investment Advisors.
