Shares of Bengaluru-based e-commerce firm Meesho surged 95% following its stock market debut last week, propelling CEO and cofounder Vidit Aatrey into billionaire ranks amid an IPO boom in India.
The stock rose 36% to 216.34 rupees ($2.39) at the close of trading in Mumbai on Wednesday, extending gains since its December 10 listing to 95% and making Meesho the best-performing IPO in India this year. The rally lifted the company’s market capitalization to 976 billion rupees ($10.8 billion), valuing Aatrey’s roughly 10% stake at about $1.1 billion.
Meesho—which counts billionaire Masayoshi Son’s SoftBank and Singapore-based private equity firm Peak XV among its shareholders—raised 54 billion rupees in its IPO, selling 488.4 million shares at 111 rupees apiece. The offering was nearly 81 times oversubscribed.
Strong demand for Meesho shares underscores growing investor optimism in India’s equity markets. So far this year, more than 300 companies have raised approximately 1.8 trillion rupees through IPOs, surpassing the previous annual record set in 2024.
The company plans to use proceeds from the IPO to strengthen its cloud infrastructure, ramp up marketing initiatives, and pursue acquisitions.
Founded in 2015 by Aatrey and Sanjeev Kumar—both graduates of the Indian Institute of Technology Delhi—Meesho began as a fashion-focused platform called Fashnear. Kumar, who holds a 6.6% stake, now has an estimated net worth of $717 million following the stock’s surge.
Named to the Forbes Asia 30 Under 30 list in 2018, the founders later pivoted the business to help retailers sell products through WhatsApp and Facebook. During the Covid-19 pandemic in 2021, Meesho evolved into a full-fledged e-commerce platform, enabling everyone from small businesses to large manufacturers to sell online.
By the end of last year, Meesho had nearly 190 million users and more than 400,000 sellers. Competing with Amazon and Walmart-backed Flipkart, the company focuses on low-priced products and charges sellers no commission. Instead, it generates revenue through services such as logistics, advertising, and financial products offered on the platform.
Meesho’s revenue rose 26% to 99 billion rupees in the year ended March 2025. The company remains unprofitable, however, with losses widening to 39 billion rupees from 3 billion rupees a year earlier.
