Meesho said to plan $605m on Dec 3 IPO

Meesho, an Indian ecommerce platform backed by SoftBank, plans to raise up to US$605 million through an IPO set to open on December 3, according to sources familiar with the matter.

The company is expected to price shares at 111 rupees each, the top of its price range, valuing Meesho at up to US$5.9 billion.

The IPO is scheduled to close on December 5.

Meesho, popular in smaller Indian cities, is joining a surge of companies going public amid strong activity in India’s IPO market.

Advisers for the offering include Kotak Mahindra Capital, Axis Bank, and the Indian units of JP Morgan Chase, Morgan Stanley, and Citigroup.

🔗 Source: Bloomberg

🧠 Food for thought

Implications, context, and why it matters.

Meesho valuation leans on FY25 metrics and logistics take rate

In fiscal year 2025 (FY25) operating revenue was Rs9,390 crore on Rs30,000 crore Net Merchandise Value (NMV), implying a take rate near 31% from logistics fees not seller commissions 1
Sellers pay zero commission, so Meesho earns from shipping and ads, which puts profit focus on logistics efficiency 1
Adjusted net loss was Rs108 crore in FY25 excluding one-time items, with positive operating cash flow for two years, which hints at better profit per order 1
Roughly 75% of orders still use Cash-on-Delivery (CoD) with roughly 25% failing, which raises collection risk and lifts logistics costs as scale rises 1

Logistics and payments can tap Meesho’s seller base in Tier-II and Tier-III cities

Valmo is Meesho’s in-house logistics arm. It handled 62% of orders in FY25, so a large share remains for partners 1
Roughly 90% of 21.3 crore users live in Tier-II or Tier-III cities, with 54% women, so partners can build hyperlocal routes with regional language support 2
Payments firms can target the 77% CoD mix with seller financing or buyer credit, as prepaid orders rose from 15% in fiscal year 2024 (FY24) to 23% in FY25 2
Seller tools cover inventory management, Goods and Services Tax (GST) compliance, plus ad analytics for 5.75 lakh sellers who process 3,570 orders a year 2 1. Many lack GST licenses, which keeps parts of this base informal 2 1