New-age Indian internet firms continue to bleed as startup IPO dream over

In the last 16 months, five startup IPOs – Paytm, Zomato, Nykaa, Delhivery and Policybazaar – have gone through a bloodbath, shedding more than $18 billion in value

   
startup IPO of internet firms dips

Startup IPO sees tough luck. With leading financial services company Paytm’s shares plunging to an all-time low of Rs 477 on Tuesday, the grim performance of new-age internet companies continued in the public market amid the global macroeconomic conditions.

In the last 16 months or so, five of such startup/unicorn’s initial public offerings – Paytm, Zomato, Nykaa, Delhivery and Policybazaar – have gone through a bloodbath, shedding more than $18 billion in value.

VC firm Lighthouse India Fund III has sold 3 crore Nykaa shares worth Rs 525.39 crore in a bulk deal, as the lock-in period expired for the pre-IPO investors.

Startup IPO Zomato shares took a beating after the company’s founder Mohit Gupta resigned from the online food aggregator. The company is also firing 3-4 per cent of its workforce, affecting various departments.

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Uber Technologies, an early investor in Zomato, exited the online food delivery platform in August this year.

Zomato’s stock was trading at Rs 63.90 on Tuesday.

The one-year lock-in period for Nykaa got over on November 10 and the stock plunged the same day. Its share was trading at Rs 174.95 on Tuesday.

FSN E-Commerce Ventures (Nykaa) chief financial officer Arvind Agarwal has resigned from the company.

“Arvind Agarwal, Chief Financial Officer of FSN E-Commerce Ventures Limited will be leaving the Company, effective close of business hours on November 25, 2022, to pursue other opportunities in the digital economy & start-up space,” Nykaa said in a regulatory filing.

The lock-in period of Delhivery ended on Monday and CA Swift Investments sold half of its holding in the online logistics platform at an average price of Rs 330.02 apiece, according to NSE data.

Last week, Japanese VC major Softbank sold 29 million shares of Paytm through a block deal.

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On Tuesday, a Macquarie report said Paytm will face stiff competition with the entry of Jio Financial Services (JFS), leading to further 11 per cent drop in its stock.

Paytm’s market cap has come down to around $3.79 billion from a high of $11.62 billion last year.

Market experts have said that the valuations of these new-age internet companies were not supported by strong fundamentals while their cash burn was extremely high.

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