How new-age startup IPOs performed in Q1 FY24

Several Indian startups joined the initial public offering (IPO) rush in 2021 and since then a dozen startups have been listed on the bourses. Entrackr has sifted through the latest quarterly results of these new-age startup IPOs to check their financial health.

[Profit making new-age startup IPOs in Q1 FY24]

In 2021, homegrown startups raised a record $38 billion in venture capital funding. As a result of the startup-friendly environment, eight startups including Zomato, Nazara Technologies, Nykaa, CarTrade, and EaseMyTrip managed to go public. In 2022, however, the tide seemed to ebb as only a couple of startups including Delhivery and Tracxn went on to an IPO while several startups delayed their plans of listing citing tough market conditions. The list counts OYO, boAt, PharmEasy, Mobikwik, Navi, Pine Labs, and ixigo. In the ongoing year, only drone tech startup ideaForge got listed on the stock exchange. The below list counts startups that went for a successful IPO in 2021 and later. 

Among them, eight startups registered profitability in Q1 FY24. Foodtech major Zomato’s financial numbers came as a surprise as the Gurugram-based company turned profitable for the first time in the quarter ending June this year. For context, the firm reported a loss of Rs 188 crore during Q4 FY23.

The much older MapMyIndia (founded in 1995) was on top with Rs 32 crore profit, followed by EaseMyTrip, Nazara, CarTrade and ideaForge. Nykaa reported Rs 5.4 crore profit whereas Tracxn registered only Rs 0.69 crore profit in Q1 FY24. 

[Loss making new-age startup IPOs in Q1 FY24] 

While Zomato and Nykaa reported profits at a high scale, high revenue-generating companies such as Paytm (One97 Communications), Policybazaar (PB Fintech), Delhivery, and Freshworks couldn’t reach profitability as of Q1 FY24. Paytm, which is the second highest revenue-generating company in the list, saw its losses rise over 2X to Rs 358.4 crore during Q1 FY24 against Rs 167.5 crore in the previous quarter. However, compared to the corresponding quarter of the previous fiscal year (Q1 FY23), the firm’s losses contracted by 44.5%.

Similarly, losses of Policybazaar also surged quarter-on-quarter to Rs 11.9 crore in Q1 FY24 from Rs 9.37 crore in Q4 FY23. Logistics company Delhivery and SaaS firm Freshworks managed to control their losses in the last quarter. Interestingly, Freshworks reported its first adjusted operating profit in Q4 FY23 and anticipated the same in Q1 FY24 whereas Policybazaar eyes profitability in FY24 only.

[Current market price Vs IPO price]

Entrackr has prepared a chart to compare the share price of these companies' current market vis-a-vis their IPO price (set by the company). Zomato, ideaForge, and MapMyIndia are currently trading above their IPO price while the rest of the companies are trading below their IPO price band. On the upside, however, many of them seem to be on a path to recovery after slumping, indicating perhaps a better market understanding of their business models. For context, Zomato's share price soared to a 52-week high recently. Paytm shares also jumped as Vijay Shekhar Sharma, founder and CEO of One97 Communications, entered an agreement to purchase a 10.3% stake in the company from Ant Financial.

Readers might see the arrival of profits as either of two things: the discipline of public markets, or signs of maturity in these startups. Or perhaps both. While founders may not admit that future growth will be much lower as compared to their high growth/high loss years, the fact is that in an economy expanding over 6% each year, these firms do have the potential to grow well, all things being equal. More importantly, their valuations, while hit badly in some cases like Paytm and Freshworks, have recovered well enough to provide access to capital in a tough market for other, non-listed startups.