The listings aren’t slowing down either. Groww, PhysicsWallah, and Pine Labs are all slated to list on stock exchanges in the next few days, extending what’s becoming a defining wave for India’s new-age IPOs. While investors debate valuations as tech founders and early investors laugh their way to the bank, the broader takeaway is clear: startup IPOs, for all their volatility, are still making money and reshaping the market narrative in the process.
What began with Zomato‘s 2021 debut — a defining moment for new-age businesses on Dalal Street — has evolved into a steady procession of digital-first and consumer-tech listings from Nykaa, Paytm, and Policybazaar to Mamaearth, Go Digit, and now Lenskart.
Among the 25 startups that have listed since January 2021, four have emerged as multibaggers. Zomato leads with a staggering 303% gain from its offer price of Rs 76, according to data from Prime Database. While many may have forgotten, even Zomato’s valuation was severely criticised in July 2021 with none other than valuation guru Aswath Damodaran writing a blog post to argue that the stock is not worth more than Rs 41 per share, nearly half of the issue price. Again in 2022, he lowered his target further to Rs 35.32. The stock is now trading above Rs 300-level with brokerage target prices going beyond Rs 400.
Le Travenues Technology (Ixigo) is second on the multibagger list with 202% returns. Zaggle is up 122% and Blackbuck 145%. Other top gainers include Nazara Technologies which delivered 93%. Cartrade Tech returned 79%. On the flip end, eight companies are trading below their issue prices, with Paytm down 37%, Ola Electric down 38%, and Tracxn Technologies losing 39%.
Also Read | Lenskart effect? New-age IPOs of Groww, PhysicsWallah and Pine Labs see GMPs as low as 2%
The Valuation Battleground
Lenskart’s Rs 7,278 crore IPO, oversubscribed 28 times, saw participation from nearly every major domestic mutual fund — SBI, HDFC, Kotak, ICICI Prudential, Axis, and Aditya Birla Sun Life among others — alongside global funds and insurers. Yet, the stock closed flat on debut, mirroring a market split on its valuation near 235x FY25 earnings, among the steepest multiples in the startup cohort.
“The entire IPO story is becoming more and more murky because of the fact that there is a complete lack of transparency,” said Sandip Sabharwal. “Many of these companies are just reporting profits in the last quarter before they come for IPO or the last year after being in losses for years. It has been a pattern we are seeing in most of the fancied companies which are coming in for an IPO lately and then the IPO pricing itself is so absurd and it is getting lapped up so much by large institutional investors and as a result most other retail investors are following.”
Sabharwal pointed to the impact on secondary markets: “This huge flow of IPOs, promoter selling, etc, that is something which is keeping the markets subdued.” Market data underscores the shift: FIIs have pulled out over Rs 2 lakh crore from the secondary market in 2025 but invested around Rs 55,000 crore in the primary market so far in the year.
Sandeep C. Patil, partner & Head of Asia at QED Investors, takes a sharply different view. “The recent surge in India’s Initial Public Offerings (IPOs) has drawn a mix of scepticism and sensationalism, with critics warning of ‘dumb money’ and an inevitable market collapse,” he said. “However, this fixation on short-term volatility misses the deeper, transformative story of India’s capital markets becoming more inclusive, domestically anchored, and structurally resilient. What we are witnessing is not an impending implosion, but an evolution.”
Patil emphasized India’s growing global significance: “While fast-growing markets experience volatility, India is maturing. Institutional participation is strong, and the market is increasingly a global player. The fact that India accounted for a quarter of global IPO activity in Q1 2025 shows the country is emerging as a significant market centre.”
He framed the trend as fundamentally about domestic capital formation. “This entire phenomenon is fundamentally about capital formation within India, for India. Indian entrepreneurs are choosing domestic markets because they believe in local investors and a home-grown path to growth. This democratization of ownership converts millions of savers into shareholders in India’s future. The IPO surge is not evidence of a bubble; it is the fundamental process of building the capital-stack for India’s next decade of growth.”
The Road Ahead
“Yes, some IPOs are overpriced. Some listing pops are followed by sharp corrections. But these are not signs of breakdown,” Patil acknowledged. “They are part of the sorting mechanism of a developing market. The real test will be whether companies deliver on their public commitments, whether governance sticks, and whether investor base deepens beyond the moment of listing.”
Groww’s IPO, though not as aggressively priced as Lenskart, has attracted attention for its valuation multiple of 34–44 times FY25 earnings — higher than traditional brokerages like Angel One and Anand Rathi. With PhysicsWallah’s Rs 3,480 crore offering and Pine Labs’ Rs 3,809 crore issue also in the pipeline, the test of market appetite and patience continues.
“In that sense, what matters more than initial euphoria is staying power,” Patil concluded. “Listings that become anchor points for ownership, trading that contributes to liquidity, valuations that reflect fundamentals.”
For now, the market remains divided: believers see India building its capital stack for the next decade; skeptics see a pattern of founders selling stake at sky-high valuations.
(Disclaimer: Recommendations, suggestions, views and opinions given by the experts are their own. These do not represent the views of The Economic Times)