Meesho IPO: Should You Consider It?

If you're an online shopper, you may have heard of Meesho.

Meesho, a Softbank-backed, Indian e-commerce company, headquartered in Bengaluru, was founded by Vidit Aatrey and Sanjeev Kumar Barnwal in December 2015.

It's a multi-sided technology platform that drives e-commerce in India by connecting four groups - consumers, sellers, logistics partners, and content creators. Meesho's platform focuses on offering affordable, accessible and engaging shopping for everyone in India.

With a zero-commission model for sellers, and efficient technology-driven operations, the company keep costs low. Technology is at the core of the business.

The company earns revenue through seller services such as order fulfilment, advertising, and data insights. It charges no commission to sellers and no platform fee to consumers.

Meesho's sellers include manufacturers, wholesalers, and traders, while consumers span many income groups but are mainly value-conscious shoppers looking for affordable products.

In FY25, the company had 198.77 million (m) annual transacting users, with 174.43 m from outside India's top 8 cities. Women made up a large portion of its users - around 54%.

IPO details

Nearly a decade after its inception, the company has come up with its initial public offering (IPO).

The IPO opens on 3 December 2025, and the company plans to raise Rs 54.21 billion (bn). The fresh issue of equity shares is worth up to Rs 42.5 bn, and the offer for sale (OFS) is Rs 11.71 bn, i.e. up to 105.5 m shares by its existing shareholders.

Meesho has cut the OFS portion by nearly 40% from 175.7 m shares. The proceeds from the OFS portion will not be available to the company. It will enable the founders and other investors, such as Peak XV Partners and Venture Highway, reduce their existing holdings.

Co-founders, Vidit Aatrey and Sanjeev Kumar, who together hold 18.51% pre-issue (i.e. before the IPO), will be the biggest beneficiaries. 11.1% is held by Aatrey (472.5 m shares) and 7.4% by Kumar (315.7 m shares). They had acquired these at Rs 0.06 per share and 0.02 per share, respectively.

At the upper end of the price band, Aatrey's holdings are valued at Rs 52.45 bn, while Barwal's Rs 35.04 bn. So, the IPO will result in a windfall for the co-founders.

The fresh issue portion will be used for organic growth initiatives, improving technological infrastructure, and strengthening Meesho's marketplace capabilities.

The price band for Meesho's IPO is fixed at Rs 105-111 per share, placing the valuation of the business (market capitalisation) at nearly Rs 501 bn at the upper end of the price band. The minimum lot size for application is 135 shares, for a total investment of Rs 14,985.

Note that not more than 10% of the offer is reserved for retail investors, 15% for non-institutional investors (NIIs), and not less than 75% is reserved for qualified institutional buyers (QIBs).

Meesho's Financials

The consolidated financial statements show that Meesho has reported a net loss for FY25 of Rs 39.42 bn, due to one-time exceptional items, including reverse flip tax and perquisite tax, required for the company's transition to a public structure.

Its operating loss was of Rs 5.51 bn in H1FY26 from 0.53 bn, which is a tenfold increase. This was mainly because of investment in technology, marketing spends, and team expansion.

However, for the same period, the platform's net total loss has reduced to Rs 7 bn from Rs 25.12 bn a year before.

Should You Consider the IPO?

The key performance indicators reveal that Meesho's return on net worth (RoNW) is -252.37%. At the upper end of the price band, the price-to-book is 30.16, which seems rather expensive given that it's making losses.

It does not make sense to look at the post-IPO PE, as the post IPO earnings per share (EPS) itself is negative, i.e., -3.11.

The grey market premium (GMP) of Meesho's IPO has also dropped to Rs 28-30 from Rs 35-37 earlier (as of 28 November 2025). While the GMP many still be positive, investors will need to approach Meesho's IPO with a lot of caution.

The IPO opens for subscription on 3 December 2025 and closes on 5 December 2025. The allotment finalisation date and the refunds initiation date are 8 December and 9 December, respectively.

Those who have been successfully allotted shares will receive them in their demat account on 9 December, The IPO listing will be on 10 December 2025.

Investors should invest sensibly and cautiously, rather than getting carried away by the IPO boom.

Happy investing.

Investors should evaluate the company's fundamentals, corporate governance, and valuations of the stock as key factors when conducting due diligence before making investment decisions.

Disclaimer: This article is for information purposes only. It is not a recommendation and should not be treated as such.